Just One
by Destiny1029
Summary: Just One! The boy pleaded, That's all I need... to get you to love me. Chapter 14: Hospital Visit and Confessions. Complete.
1. Team 7?

Naruto does not belong to Destiny1029

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Just one 

The boy always asked. The girl always said no. The boy always ended up accidentally staring at her; the girl always accidentally ended up hitting him. It ended up a circle of events. They were thirteen but they didn't care, they knew they had found true love. The only problem was the boy liked her and she liked a different boy. She did everything for him, she devoted years to him, and she would have died for him. And all she ever called the blond was a friend. The blond, on the other hand, would have done everything for her, devoted years to keep a promise to her, and would have died for her, all of this at the age of 13.

Three years later Sakura has gotten stronger, Naruto has gotten wiser. But the love still hasn't changed. The blond loves her; she loves the cold bastard. The blond can't do anything besides love her still. And it will still go on. They went on one date, when Naruto first came back from training, but they both knew what that was, even though it was hard to take. She only thought of them as friends and it ended up as just 'get together' of friends.

That year Sasuke's back and he's not talking to her. Sakura's not talking to him. She talks to Naruto, but only as a friend. He wasted a promise, he believes. Sasuke talks about Sakura but only as a teammate. She's wasted all that time on him, she thinks.

So now they're 18 years old and they've spent all this time thinking about love. Sakura's starting to question love while Naruto is still staring.

She's wasted 10 years believing a fairy tale and thinking he would ever say it. He wouldn't and he won't, she still can never come to terms with herself so she keeps up this love, thinking maybe I can be the one to change him, he'll love me back I know it.

Naruto has been 'crazy' in love with this girl since the first time he laid eyes on this pink haired love. He can't get her out of his mind. He thought, while he was away training for three years, that maybe it was just a dumb crush, a childish infatuation. But when he returned to Konaha he still felt that thump in his heart, the adrenaline rush when she was near, and a lovesick puppy feeling in his stomach which made everything so wrong in his mind but so right in his heart.

18 years old and still at block one. Oh man oh man, will they ever find their way out of this cycle? Can at least one of them ever just turn around and give the other a chance? They are as stubborn as the other teammate and they will never give in unless under threat of the others death. Stubbornness is cruel to the people who are being equally as stubborn as you are, you're making them wait and have a drawn out love. And yet, although they know they will never turn around to love each other, they will also not tell the people who love them to stop.

This cycle will continue until one of them will turn around and take a chance, take a risk, and go for a different kind of love.

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D: This is going to be a love story between Naruto and Sakura, it's going to be about Sakura taking a chance. Also it's most definitely going to venture upon the path not taken. So this is the opening chapter of "Just one." The title will make more sense by the second or third chapter. 


	2. Just one

D: I don't own Naruto

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"Hey Sakura-Chan!" A blonde chimed as he met his old teammate for noon brunch.

"You know you're late jerk," Sakura said in an annoyed voice as she sat in her normal stool playing with the straw in her drink. Her eye brow twitched and her hair was tied up in a pony tale… a sign that she had woken up late and ran there because of the thought of being there last.

"Sorry! I accidentally slept in! You knew I just returned from a mission yesterday!" He whined as he scratched the back of his head with his usual dumb grin making its way across his lips.

"I was on the same mission you idiot!" Sakura screamed as she massaged her temples. She turned around in her stool "sit down and order your ramen…" she insisted as she took a sip from her hot, morning coffee. Naruto grinned and jumped in the seat next to her. He was happy she was too tired to get up and punch him, she had to be as tired as he was, if not more, since Naruto probably got an hour more sleep than her.

"So I guess this is the wrong time to ask, but have you filed the mission report yet to the old hag?" Naruto asked knowing they had to do that by day's end.

"I'm not lazy like you Naruto," she scowled as she picked up the papers.

"So you didn't do it either!" Naruto asked with a smirk.

"I did half of it!" Sakura said as she stuck out her tongue, damn him and being able to see through her lies.

"Ha so you're almost as lazy as me! Face it you're more like me than you think!" Naruto declared with a victorious smile.

"Pft yea right! Like you? The number one hyperactive ninja? Please hyper?… have you seen me this morning?" she asked in a sarcastic way. It was clear she was in no way 'hyper' today.

"Don't forget the number one underestimated ninja… you can't deny that one!" Naruto countered, and he was right she couldn't deny that she was just as underestimated as him.

Sakura rolled her eyes and planted a small punch on the top of his head as Naruto's ramen came in.

"Ah thank you Ayame!" Naruto thanked the young server as he plunged himself into the stew without a second thought of the argument or the punch.

"You're hopeless…" Sakura muttered under her breath as she began to eat her miso stew also.

"So did you talk to either of them yesterday?" Sakura asked as she stared into the kitchen. Her chin rested on her hand.

"By them you mean Sasuke right?" Naruto asked in somewhat of a spiteful way. He still felt jealousy towards his rival; he was able to sweep Naruto's love off her feet and not even care for her, while he could barely get a talk out of her that didn't pertain to her 'Sasuke-kun.'

"I was wondering if Kakashi or Sasuke were coming today." Sakura said with a smile trying to dust off Naruto's tone.

"Nah, I haven't heard anything from them. We did come back late last night so I haven't had a chance to talk to them." Naruto said honestly as a second Miso Stew came his way.

"AH! We told them we'd be back by this morning!" Sakura yelled frustratingly. "Why are they always late? Why do they always make us wait?" Sakura ranted to the only person that was always willing to listen.

"Well the one's an _icy_ bastard and the others a _lazy_ bastard so I guess that's _could_ be the reason why they're not here yet," Naruto explained with his infinite wisdom. Sakura giggled and then punched him again.

"Don't call Sasuke-kun an Icy bastard…"

"Yea listen to her, you baka," Sasuke said as he walked into the café with his normal cocky smirk.

"Who are you calling baka, bastard?" Naruto said as he leapt to his feet, always ready to fight, morning or night.

"Ah, stop it you two, honestly," Sakura yelled as she got to her feet to ready to break the boys apart.

The boys glared at one another and took their seats once again.

"Dobe," Sasuke said under his breath as he, to Sakura's disappointment, took a place on the other side of Naruto.

"So if the icy bastard is here," Naruto began as Sasuke formed another glare towards him, "then where is the lazy…"

"I hope you weren't about to call me a lazy bastard," A familiar voice came out of no where. "Such disrespect."

"It's the truth Kakashi," Sakura informed the man as she drank her noodles.

Kakashi frowned and sat next to Sakura, "I'm not ALWAYS late… So how'd the mission go you two?" the three pupils looked at him as though to say 'You dumb ass I can't name one thing you weren't late for.' They let it go they knew there was nothing they could do for the matter.

"Boring, nothing big happened, just breaking up an uprising in the North Mist village. It was more annoying than anything else was. They were getting mad at the new leader up there or something of the sorts. We only got like on battle and some of them weren't even trained as ninja. You should have heard Shikamaru, I think he said troublesome more times than I could count," Naruto summarized their journey briefly as he held out his bowl for more food. "And Sakura…"

"Got the most out of it. That was only because I had to heal the men that Naruto and the others had to knock unconscious because they wouldn't listen to reason, it was just annoying all together. I mean just because the guy isn't who they voted for, honestly it was so dumb." Sakura continued Naruto's story.

"Yes well it sounds like you two enjoyed yourselves a whole lot," Kakashi added with a grin.

"Right," Naruto and Sakura added together in a sarcastic tone.

"Finishing each other's sentences? Saying the same thing? Maybe you two are more like each other than I thought," Kakashi added as he plunged into his noodles. Sakura glared at Kakashi, while Naruto stuck out his tongue towards Sakura and managed something under his breath along the lines of 'like me.'

"Yea well at least you guys get to leave the damn village, I'm stuck here running errands…" Sasuke snapped which made his eye twitch. Ever since he got back he had been under tight surveillance, and was to be that way for 3 years, not to mention after this he was not to lead a mission until he was 30 years old. Kakashi was just happy they didn't execute his old student. Sakura and Naruto knew he would get out of being executed, he was from the _great_ Uchiha clan… this still didn't help him get out of it completely.

The table went silent once again. It usually got silent when anything was brought up about what happened between Orochimaru and Sasuke. Sasuke stood up and walked towards the cash register.

"Oh Sasuke-kun! Can I walk you home?" Sakura said as she saw the avenger walk towards the street.

"No, I'm going to go train." Sasuke replied as he began to walk away.

He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't deserve her, he knew that; he didn't love her like that and that is why he can not turn around and love her back. Because it would have been a lie, all of it, he wouldn't have done it for love. He'll never be able to take back how much he has hurt the girl. The girl he loved like a sister, but could not love her more than that. He couldn't do it. He couldn't break her heart like that.

"Oh well I'll help you train then, I mean if you want…" Sakura insisted. She just wanted to be around him, just wanted to feel that he knew she was there. That's all, just once.

"No, I need to train by myself…" Sasuke said as he picked up the pace. 'I can't love her like that, I'll never be able to give her what she wants.'

"Oh alright then well, maybe later then…" She gave in. And smiled weakly at the boy.

"Maybe. See ya later," Sasuke said as he disappeared leaving the girl behind once again. Naruto squirmed in his seat and twitched with irritation he had to turn around in order to stop himself from beating the kid up. He would have stood up and yelled at the son of a bitch like he always did but he knew how it would end up. He would have a bump on his head and a mad Sakura on his hands, and that's the last thing Sakura needed was 2 men she wouldn't be able to talk to.

"Hey Sakura-Chan can I walk you home? I mean I'm going your way anyway!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Naruto…" the girl sighed, "you're such a child," Sakura composed herself once again. She stuck out her tongue as though she were a child again.

"Yea, Yea well I have work again, unlike you too, be happy you're just usual Jounins for right now, ANBU will not be that easy." Kakashi grinned as he poofed off.

"Well Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked. Sakura sighed and agreed as she paid for her food and left.

They both walked in silence for the first couple of moments. Both lost in their own thought. Sakura was thinking about Sasuke, as she had when they were little, she still did as they are now. Naruto thought of Sakura, as he always had, as he always will. Naruto's eye all of a sudden glistened as though he had an idea, not just any idea, a brilliant idea.

"Eh Sakura-chan what are you doing Friday?" Naruto asked.

"Oh I don't know, I don't think anything right now, why? Planning on having another bar night for the rookie 9?" Sakura said with a giggle.

"No no nothing like that… You know we only have that once a week." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Heh, last time was pretty fun huh?"

"Yea, it was, I couldn't believe Lee, I mean woah…"

"heh yea, I knew there was a flaw in his personality…" Sakura joked.

They kept talking about their bar hop and how much fun they had together and they finally got to Sakura's house and the talking seemed to completely stop, and then it occurred to Sakura.

"Wait," Sakura giggled, "What got us started on this topic?"

"I asked what you were doing Friday night and we went from lee getting drunk, then to dance moves which he whipped out and some how it evolved into partying on a beach on of these days." Naruto recalled.

"Oh yea… wait why did you want to know about Friday?" Sakura asked.

"Oh you know the usual… will you go on a date with me?" Naruto smiled as he took her hand in his.

"Naruto, we've gone through this. I'm not going out with out, I'll talk to you tomorrow," Sakura said with a smile as she turned around only to not be able to move. Naruto's hand was still around her wrist. "Naruto let go, I need some sleep."

"No, not until you promise a date with me this Friday…" Naruto said with a grin.

"Naruto I am not afraid to punch you."

"I know, you've done it multiple times…"

"Not with all my strength." Sakura said as she kept trying to pull away.

"Come on Sakura… Friday night please!" Naruto said with a continuous smile.

"NARUTO COME ON!" Sakura yelled as she held up her fist menacingly

"No all you have to do is say yes and keep your promise."

"NARUTO! We've been through this!" Sakura yelled as she punched him in the stomach. Naruto was winded but he took it, looked up and smiled. Sakura's eye twitched and she began to punch him over and over again, in the face, in the stomach, in the arms, and she kicked him in the shins. But every time she hit him he would just come back like a yo yo. He didn't even try to dodge the attacks, or block them with his one freed arm, his other hand never left the girl's wrist. He took every hit with a smile and a grin. Sakura was breathing hard and Naruto was now down on his knees, only being held up with those knees and his one free arm. Sakura looked at him with fear and suspicion.

"WHY! WHY WON'T YOU STOP!" Sakura yelled. As she tried to break the grip of Naruto's hand. "We've talked about this, why can't you just stop loving me!"

Naruto slowly looked up, he had one black eye and blood was at the corner of his mouth. His head slowly lifted and looked at the green orbs he had fallen in love with. And he gave her the grin that everyone in Konoha had learned to love. "Sakura-chan, the same reason you won't stop loving Sasuke…"

Sakura looked at him and slowly shook her head. Her eyes were closed… he hoped she wasn't crying.

Naruto kept smiling and slowly brought his one free arm up. "Sakura-chan… just one… give me just one chance, one date this Friday." Naruto asked, his hand formed a one and his other hand gripped the woman's hand. "Just One," the boy pleaded, "That's all I need... to get you to love me..."

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D: yea yea I ended it on a cliffie! But hey who cares… I updated. Naruto, I believe, will do ANYTHING for something he loves. And Sakura is something he loves, so I believe this situation is likely. I hope you liked, do review so I know there are people out there that like it. 


	3. Her answer

I Don't own Naruto.

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Sakura looked at the boy, tears slid down her face and she sighed. There was no getting rid of this boy. What would Sasuke say if he found out? What if he was actually starting to love her back? What if her last chance was ruined? Then what? How could she take a risk like this? Risk everything she's worked for for 10 years. How could she just look back and love Naruto when all she wanted was Sasuke? How?

Sakura stared at the now crippled boy, his face still had that grin and his eyes still shown with some hope. "Naruto, I can't,"

"Yes you can! You can go one! JUST ONE," He persuaded. Still holding onto the girls hand. "I swear just one please, I won't tell Sasuke or anyone! Just you and me! Come on please Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto," she whimpered. She hated decisions, she hated having to pick, and she hated it all. She knew how this triangle worked; she knew its cruel cycle all too well.

"Sakura I'm not asking you to love me… I'm asking you to give me a chance, one chance," the boy whispered to her as he coughed up more blood. Sakura looked at him and gave him her normal concerned look. She slowly bent down next to Naruto and gave him a small smile, as Naruto still clung onto Sakura's hand, she punched him in the back of the neck and he passed out.

Sakura slowly picked up the boy and made her way down the street to the next apartment complex. She carried him up the steps to his room. She stopped in front of the door entitled 103. She whipped out the extra key the boy had given her… more she demanded of him. She did this so she could restock his food and do his laundry, she got sick of seeing Naruto's clothes either dirty or bleached to the max, and the ramen could be smelt with in a mile of where he stood. She got into the room and dumped him on his bed, healed his broken bones, and the internal bleeding she might have accidently give him. She healed everything she could, but she's not a miracle worker, she can't heal a broken heart with her chakra. So she set his alarm and left a post it on the snooze button.

She made her way to the exit, fully knowing that he would either wake up within seconds or he would wake up in a couple of hours. She left soon after, making sure everything was still stocked and he had no new dirty laundry, she needed to go get her own hours of sleep.

The boy decided to dream instead of waking up to the reality he knew all too well. He dreamed of being Hokage, and of finally earning a date form Sakura, he dreamt of meeting his parents, and he dreamt of Sasuke and the rest of team 7 going back to normal, which he knew was impossible. But one could dream couldn't they?

Hours passed since Sakura had left when the alarm woke the boy up. It was 6 at night, 4 hours since they had seen each other. He growled at the annoying beeping sound as he flung his arm across the bed onto the corner table, successfully beating the crap out of the alarm clock. He rolled over toward the clock to what the time was, 6:00 PM. He gave a dirty glare towards the clock and realized something was stuck to his hand.

"What the…" the boy mumbled as he peeled the pink post it off his hand.

'I can't, but I will… Friday night 8 o'clock at carnival… if you're late I'll beat you. Sakura'

The boy read the note 5 times in a row and thought about what had happened earlier… woke up late… went to brunch… 2 bastards were late… Sasuke-teme was an ass to Sakura… he didn't beat him up though… he walked Sakura home… and then…

"OH! WOAH WAIT… SHE'S GOING OUT…. WITH ME!" Naruto yelled to himself. His eyes bulged and he read the letter again, and he jumped up out of bed and screamed with happieness. He couldn't even believe it…

He had a date with Sakura-chan Friday Night.

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D: Brief! I Know! I'M SORRRRRRY! But I didn't want to mesh this chapter and the chapter... well next chapter... so you'll get another soon, I just have to plot it out. Thank you for the reviews. Hope you liked this chapter. sorry it couldn't be as cute as last chapter. 


	4. WAIT! A DATE!

Destiny1029: Okay, we all know the sad, sad truth by now… I don't own Naruto.

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Chapter four: Wait… a date? 

Naruto jumped up once again and clicked his heels together. He had a date with his Sakura-chan this Friday, and nothing, absolutely nothing could rain on his parade. He was so happy he decided to take a walk and get some Miso Stew to munch on. He locked his door and jumped down onto the green grass behind the apartment complex. He made his way to the road and walked with a kind of a skip. His grin was so wide and bright that anyone could see it before they even knew who was walking down the road.

He finally got to the Ramen bar and found a familiar face sitting in his normal bar stool.

"Oi Iruka! What are you doing here?" Naruto said with a smile as he took his place next to his old mentor.

"The normal, you're here awfully late, you usually show up around 3, it's 7 O'clock."

Naruto gave a smile and ordered his stew. He was so excited he couldn't hold it in anymore. "Sakura-chan and I are going on a date this Friday!"

Iruka stared at his student and gave him an unsure smile. "Really now?"

"Yea, I asked her, and well after a bit of begging she finally said yes," He said with a grin as he dove into his miso stew.

"Beg?" Iruka asked with an eyebrow cocked. He knew how much he loved this girl. Why, he'd never know. It didn't make much sense, he could understand being on a team would make them come closer to each other but before that... why? How? He even left for three years, and he still loved her. He'd never understand it.

"Yea, but she said yes…" he said with a smile, "and she healed me!"

"Healed you?"

"Long story." Naruto said as he plunged into his second Miso Stew. Iruka stared and shook his head.

"Well where are you going on this date?"

"The festival," Naruto said plainly.

"The Cherry Blossom Festival?" Iruka said, a little wide-eyed and scared.

"I don't know… I guess… whatever festival is this Friday…" Naruto answered innocently while stuffing his face once again with noodles.

"Naruto… that's the ONLY festival going on this weekend, in fact it's almost the most important festival of the year." Iruka said as he set his fork down next to the soup.

"Yea, yea who cares," Naruto said.

"Who cares… do you know what you're supposed to wear? Do you know what she's going to be wearing? Do you know how important a tradition this is to Konoha?"

Naruto stared at his teacher blankly and as though someone had hit him with a rock he screamed and spit out his miso stew all over poor Iruka. "OH MY GOD! I'm going to look like an idiot! I don't have a kimono! I don't even know how to look nice! What the hell am I supposed to wear! What the hell am I supposed to say? Where am I supposed to meet her!" Naruto freaked out, Iruka merely took a napkin wiped off the stew and shook his head at the boy.

"What I can't understand is how you didn't know this was Cherry Blossom Weekend," Iruka said as he scratched his cheek in thought.

"IRUKA-SENSEI! You KNOW I don't remember ANYTHING!" Naruto whined. Naruto pushed away he ret of his soup… all of a sudden he lost his appetite, Iruka knew this was serious.

"Well… I'm sure I can find you something to wear, if worse comes to worst then you can always borrow an extra one from someone, I mean Kiba's about your size, right? And just act like a gentleman… um… well… TRY to be more mature… but still be yourself."

Naruto tried to absorb the last sentence. He looked blankly again. "What! You're confusing me!"

"I don't know!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? AHH! My one chance and I'm screwed!" Naruto wailed and put his head down onto the counter. And then as though heaven was shining upon him Ayame interrupted.

"Um, well actually Naruto-San," Ayame said politely. "It's really easy. Just be yourself… only being yourself in a good way. Be the part of you she likes. Like your jokes, and good old times. Just strike up a conversation and things will go from there… and no matter what make her smile." Ayame shared her wisdom.

"Oh… that sounds a lot better that Iruka's explanation," Naruto said with a grin.

"Hey!" Iruka randomly interrupted.

"It was rather confusing Iruka-San," Ayame concluded.

"Well I got the kimono situation right on key right?" Iruka asked, trying to make himself, in the process, feel better.

"Yes, yes you were, Naruto I'd go see your friend soon to ask for the kimono, and practice in your mirror your conversations, it'll be dumb at first but it'll make a world of difference. Also if it gets awkward DON'T PANIC!" She warned. "If all goes wrong do something, ANYTHING romantic… DON'T TRY TO KISS HER THOUGH! It'll be even more awkward." Ayame continued with the advice.

"Should… Should I be taking notes?" Naruto asked in a very scared voice. This was all too much for his brain to handle, it really was.

"It's really easy to remember. I promise." Ayame said with a smile.

So Naruto listened to the wise words of Ayame in hopes of truly understanding the mind set of a woman.

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D: Ok I promised it and here it is! Sorry it was at the end of the week instead of the beginning… or middle. But I had no idea what I was promising when I said that. I had dance practice every night this week for 3 hours on top of homework and a competition yesterday (Saturday) Just in case you were all wondering… we dominated with first place and the top score over all! Also, my crush finally asked me to a dance last night, so as you can imagine I feel like I'm in heaven right now. Everything evened out in the end! ANYWAY! I bet you all are now like WHY IS SHE SAYING ALL OF THIS! I needed to let it all loose! Back on the story! I changed it from carnival to festival for all of you who noticed! Sorry That was a typo in the third chapter. I will update as soon as possible… it comes as a plus because I have only 4 practices this week! 

Lots of loving! -D


	5. The night of Awkward Silences?

D: I don't own Naruto! Naruto owns me. And Yea I know My chapter title sounds like a really bad horror movie, huh? lol PS. read the after thought!

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Chapter 5: The night of awkward silences?

Naruto took every bit of information and memorized it. He had already tried on one of Kiba's old, yet nicely fitting, Kimonos, and successfully borrowed it. It was lucky for him one of Kiba's cousins like orange also and just so happened to have a spare. For the past two nights he stood in front of a mirror and practiced talking like a gentleman, kimono on and all. He had already decided an escape plan for if things got awkward, and made sure he had plenty of money to pay for everything. He combed his hair and took off his forehead protector and tied it around his neck. As he looked into the mirror he realized he looked a lot like the fourth hokage. He gave a grin and decided it was destiny for him to become a hokage.

Friday began and just like the past two days, Naruto stood in front of the mirror with a different kind of grin than others were used to. The number one hyperactive kid, whose confidence couldn't be broken by Orochimaru, was nervous. He took a couple of deep breaths and gave a very awkward kind of smile.

"AHHHH! WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto screamed into the mirror. "I CAN TAKE DOWN OROCHIMARU, HELP TAKE DOWN THE AKATSUKI, BUT I CAN'T GO ON A STUPID DATE!" He screamed once again and his eye twitched. "Okay everything's going to go well… she's going to absolutely fall in love with my impeccable hotness." He tried to joke… and then sighed. He put his kimono, as he felt defeated. The orange kimono fit well, and looked pretty decent on the boy. Next he walked over to his bed and picked up his wallet, 50 dollars? Was that enough? Ayame said that would be tight… but it should last him. He combed his hair once more. It was now 7:30, 30 minutes before his date. He glared at the clock, and wished he had a little bit longer. He walked back to the mirror for one last look… he looked so much different than the normal him. He looked tidy, neat, calm, and well… not a ninja. He took a deep breath. What ever worked right?

He jumped down from his apartment building and began to walk through the crowded streets of Konoha. He stared very intently at the dirt floor and shuffled his feet. He was in deep thought of what exactly he was going to do tonight. He had a plan and everything for the perfect date… well at least what he thought she thought was the perfect date… well actually what Ayame thought was the perfect date.

"Ugh… women are too troublesome." Naruto heard as if someone were reading his mind.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto asked as he looked beside him in a near by gift shop.

"Same thing as every insane man is doing tonight… trying to make themselves look somewhat decent for their dates," he muttered again as he picked up a flower. "The worst thing is my date works in a flower shop so she'll know everything's last minute…"

"You and Ino? Ha!" Naruto laughed. "So you're going to this thing tonight also then?"

"Pft, I'm being forced to more or less." Shikamaru said lazily as he picked up a single rose. "Who are you going out with… Hinata?"

"Hinata?" The boy said a little thrown off, he still was completely unaware of the girl that watched from far away, "no Sakura Chan's going with me tonight!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Sakura, Really?" Shikamaru said with an eyebrow raised. "She gave up on Uchiha?"

"Oh, um nah, I finally got her to give me a chance though!" He said as he gave Shikamaru a thumbs up. AKA Lee's nice guy pose.

"heh well good luck with that if she's anything like Ino you're going to need all the luck you need."

"Luck? Pft… I don't need luck I've got a woman's mind on my side!"

"Woman's mind?

"Yea! Ayame gave me all I need to know about women!" he said with a grin. Shikamaru looked at him sadly. How does he say this with out killing the boy?

"You know not all women are the same right?" Shikamaru said bluntly as he bought the rose. Naruto face went from grin to a sunken frown within a millisecond.

"What?"

"Yea, that's what makes them so complicated and troublesome. Well good luck I gotta get going, good luck Naruto, like I said you're going to need it," Shikamaru said, not knowing the full impact those words had had on Naruto. "Oh but there is one thing every girl likes… or so my dad says, Chocolate and flowers," He said as he walked away.

Naruto stood there frozen. Women weren't the same? Naruto looked at his watch and realized it was now 7:55. He ran to the same counter Shikamaru had just bought a rose from "Sir I need a rose!"

"What color?"

"I don't KNOW! You pick what do women usually like?"

"You're asking the wrong guy… I'll just pick at random here." The man said as he pulled out a white rose. Naruto said a small prayer that she liked that color, paid the man and began to sprint… he was pretty sure she wouldn't want him to be late. 'I guess I'll just wing it…' He thought to himself… unsure of whether he wants to do this anymore or not.

He sprinted towards the apartment complex where Sakura had made her home and stood at the edge of the steps, praying to god she felt like being late today. No Sakura in sight this could be a close one. He walked up the steps at a fast pace and stopped in front of her apartment door. He inhaled a really large breath and knocked on the door.

* * *

(Sakura's Apartment)

"Hold on! I'm almost done!" Sakura screamed from the restroom. 'WHAT THE HELL! The ONE day he gets here on time I'm not ready!' Inner Sakura raged. Sakura looked in the mirror one last time. Gave a small smile into the mirror. She was very unsure about what she was about to do. She knew this was going to get awkward… she knew this wasn't going to feel right, so why? She inhaled a large breath, grabbed her purse, and walked to open the door.

* * *

Naruto stood there twiddling his fingers, in anxiousness. He heard footsteps coming towards the door and he watched the door open. Sakura took a step outside looking down at her our purse trying to find her key. She slowly looked up towards Naruto.

There was a gasp that came from both members then an awkward silence, which followed. They stared gaping at each other. Naruto prayed to everything that was good in this world that he was not drooling. Sakura wore a very form fitting white kimono, with threaded green vines that decorated her dress, and at the end of some vines were pink flowers. In the middle of her waste was a green sash, a sliver locket hung down on her neck. Her hair was in an elegant bun, only letting loose her bangs and some selected pieces of hair. Naruto gawked at the beauty, which stood before him. And Sakura stood there looking at the boy in the same way. She just couldn't take her eyes off of him, he looked too mature, and handsome… it didn't look like Naruto at all to her. Sakura shook her head and was suddenly aware of the awkward silence.

"HEY Naruto!" Sakura said. 'I sound too peppy… oh well its just Naruto, right?'

"Hey Sakura-Chan! You look really pretty tonight!" Naruto said with his signature grin.He slowly brought up his hand to make sure now saliva was present at the edges of his mouth. Sheblushed at this and gave him her normal soft smile.

"Thank you Naruto, you look very nice tonight also!" She told him. Now she caught him blushing. And then another awkward silence followed. Not a good sign.

"So shall we be going?" Naruto asked with a smile as he bowed a little and pointed his arms in the direction of where the stairs were.

"Yea," Sakura said with an uneasy smile. She made her way in front of Naruto towards the steps. This night was going to be a complete disaster ONLY if she made it that way.She looked at the boy, how could she? She fought with her self in her mind. Until both her inner-self and outer-self came to one final conclusion...'Screw it.'

"Come on! It'll be sweet!" Sakura said enthusiastically as she grabbed his elbow and intertwined the two of them together. Naruto looked at her a little astonished, a little scared… he came out of his shock and gave her a smile. What a bipolar moment... he was thankful for those moments sometimes.

"Hell yea! Let's party!" Naruto said with a smile. As they skipped on down the steps into the nightlife of Konoha, hand in hand.

* * *

D: Okay yea NOT as big of a chapter as I wanted but there's a reason why! I SWEAR! So as you know today is the 11th… most of you will be reading this on the 12th probably. Well I'm going to update this Tuesday… why? Because it's Valentine's Day of course! And that whole chapter will be the whole date, it'll be nice and long As far as I know, since it's a weekday I won't be going anywhere! This weekend though... oh manhehe. (In pure unbreakable bliss) ANYWAY EXPECT AN UPDATE THIS TUESDAY: ) 


	6. British accents and Ichiraku Ramen Bar

D: I don't own Naruto

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Chapter 6: British accents and The Ichiraku Ramen bar 

Hand in hand they skipped down the street.

"Oi, Sakura-Chan, um… I… er…reserved seats at La Fanciraunte… the new restaurant." Naruto said with a nervous smile. The restaurant was the fanciest around, and it took a little bit of begging and one of his many connections for them to take a reservation. Personally he didn't like the sound of the restaurant… it was seafood, with sushi, crabs, lobster, shrimp, and other sea creatures… but what ever women like, well… what ever Ayame told him he would d/o.

"Really? How did you manage that?" Sakura asked a little astounded. She knew what kind of food Naruto liked… and seafood was not one of them, maybe she was wrong.

"Oh you know, I have my connections," Naruto said. He gave her the nice guy pose and Sakura giggled.

"Chouji's dad?"

"Yup, Chouji's dad," Naruto answered with a grin. How else were you supposed to get into one of the top restaurants in Konoha? He was the most respected taste tester around.

The two of them walked down the street until they both stopped in front of a lit up building. It was decorated with flowers and vines, which hung from the walls and the windowsills. Some had pink flowers coming down from their green arms. The building was built like a house you would see in a wealthy part of town and there was an outdoor part where tables with a pair of chairs had candles burning over the white tablecloth and a vase of pink roses stood. Sakura's jaw dropped, how could Naruto afford something like this? Was he an idiot? He must have been saving up for months. She couldn't believe it. She was really going to have to be nice to him on this date. (A/N) Sakura hooked around Naruto's elbow and followed him in.

"Sir, we're here for a table for Uzumaki," Naruto said in an oddly snobby way. Sakura gave a giggle and hurriedly regained her composure. The man glared at the pair.

"Right this way Sir and Madam," The man said as he walked briskly to the door towards the outside gazebo. Sakura covered her mouth trying not to giggle at the snobby accent the waiter gave while Naruto bit his lip trying his hardest to remain a gentleman. "This is your table, I will be back to take your orders shortly," The man ended in his very thick snobby accent. He spiffily walked back through the doors and towards the main kitchen.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA," Sakura finally let go of her mouth. Naruto stared at her for a second and joined in.

"Sir and Madam… May I take your orders?" Sakura said in an accent. Naruto laughed.

"Sir I do believe you have a booger… may I pick it for you?" Naruto added in his own accent, both of them let out hysteric laughter.

"Oh my god, I guess you have to be able to talk like that to work here huh?" Naruto asked making Sakura giggle even more.

"Oh jeez, I've never been to a place like this before… what are you going to order?"

"Order… um I don't know actually," Naruto said as he scratched his chin, oh man he didn't have a clue… the only thing he ever ate was Raman.

"Ok well we have time to think, this place is packed," Sakura said as she turned around in her seat to find a line waiting outside the restaurant.

"Yea… jeez," Naruto mumbled. He hated fancy food… it made his stomach turn. But fancy was what ladies like right?

Sakura searched through the menu… snails? Lobster? Crab? Why did everything on the menu seem to be… not her style? Oh goodness, this place wasn't going to work for her she could feel it. She even would venture off to go get a full hamburger right about now. Nope, no hamburger on the menu.

"Have you found anything yet?" Naruto asked mannerly.

"No, not yet," Sakura replied, "have you?" Sakura asked concerned. She knew he really wanted to make this night special and all but still.

"Well… um… to be honest… No," Naruto told her. A young waitress stopped by to deliver their water. Sakura took a sip and thought it over, she stared at Naruto for a bit and got lost on how he didn't look like the same boy as usual. He wasn't hyper, he didn't have that dumb grin across his face and he didn't seem to be having fun, he looked stressed.

"Um Sakura? You okay?" Naruto asked as he scratched the back of his head and blushed. She was staring at him in a weird way…

"OH! Ah Sorry Naruto, I um… spaced out, sorry." Sakura said as she shook her head and gave an embarrassed smile.

"No problem,"

"Are you ready to order," A sudden accented voice spoke. Sakura and Naruto looked up at the man that had said he would take their orders. Naruto bit his lip; he really didn't want to laugh at the man in front of Sakura.

"Um Naruto are you?"

"No I can't find anything I like on here," Naruto accidentally let out. He cover his mouth, crap she was going to think he wasn't fancies enough now.

"Well me neither, do you just want to hit the Raman shop, you like everything there right?" Sakura asked with a smile. The waiter looked like he had just been smacked in the face, a Raman bar… over the fanciest restaurant in all of Konoha? These kids were mad!

Naruto looked at her as though she were a goddess. But then snapped out of it. "Sakura-Chan are you sure? This IS the fanciest place in leaf village…"

"Yea I know, but how is it any good if there's no food you can eat dork," Sakura said as she punched her perfectly manicured fist into Naruto's shoulder.

"O… okay, whatever you want Sakura-Chan," Naruto said. He was now scared she was going to hate him, she was going to think he was a jerk and selfish. Oh god what has he done?

As Naruto worried himself to death Sakura sat there praising the sky that they could just eat a normal meal tonight. "Well you heard the man," Sakura said with her irresistible smile, "we won't need to order."

"Well I'll go get you your bill," the man said roughly, now not even bothering to put on his fake accent.

"Bill? For WHAT!" Naruto asked in an annoyed way.

"Your water," the waiter pointed to the table.

"WHAT!" Sakura yelled.

"Yes … Ma'am," the man added slyly. "It'll be five dollars, per cup."

"5 bucks!" Naruto said as he raised to his feet. He slowly sat back down and breathed. 'Gentleman, gentleman… what an ass hole! but he had to be a gentleman.' "Ok sir," Naruto said with a sigh and yet a smile. He pulled out hi wallet and paid. "Here you go sir, 10 dollars, good night," Sakura watched this in amazement and was only pulled away by Naruto's arm.

"Come on Sakura-Chan! Let's go get some Raman." Naruto said as he took her arm and walked out with every bit of grace they had walked in with.

"Naruto how could you just let him step on you like that!" Sakura asked in astonishment. "He was a complete ass hole!" Naruto thought to himself, 'ugh that's what I was thinking!'

"Well, it's just not worth it Sakura-Chan, it's just money," Naruto said with a smile. 'MONEY THAT TOOK AN ANNOYING MISSION TO GET!' Naruto screamed inside himself.

"Naruto… ugh, come on lets get to the bar, I'll pay," Sakura said with a smile.

"Nope, I'm paying! Don't even think about it!" Naruto said with a grin. They walked down the sidewalk, the whole city was lit up with lanterns and streamers were hung everywhere. It truly was a gorgeous sight; the prettiest Konoha looked all year. They made their way to the lit up and still opened Raman bar. He walked I and heard a tray drop onto the ground. There stood Ayame completely in shock. One thing she had begged Naruto not to do was bring him here… oh god.

"Uh Hey Ayame, Can we have 2 miso stews for here please," Naruto said with a smile. Sakura gave a grin towards the girl and sat in her usual stool.

"Naruto… um yes sure, hold on," Ayame said quickly as she ran into the kitchen… but she didn't go alone, Ayame carried Naruto by the ear into the kitchen. Sakura stared at the two and just decided that Ayame was mad because he had not paid off some of his lunch the other day. The girl sat in her kimono on a stool twirling around waiting for the two to reappear.

"Oi! Forehead girl!" An all too familiar voice said from behind her. "What are you doing here?" Sakura turned around and rolled her eyes.

"Ino-pig," the girl muttered as she turned around in her stool and stood up measuring her competition for the night with a smile.

"In the flesh," Ino said as she raised her arms with a smile. She was wearing a gorgeous blue kimono with golden stems (instead of green) weaving through the threads and pick flowers blooming at selected ends. Her hair was also up in an elegant bun but it was much tighter than Sakura's whose was just up and strands hung loose.

"Well don't you look spiffy tonight," Sakura said with a smile.

"Pft, right back at you, but I definitely beat you out on the places to eat contest," Ino said with a cocky grin.

"Really now? We just ate at La Fanciraunte," Sakura lied… well kind of, I mean they did pay 10 bucks for a frickin water.

"Yea right forehead girl," Ino cocked her eyebrow, "why the heck would you be here then?"

"We didn't like their cooking." Sakura explained her hands were placed firmly on her hips.

"Didn't like… That's got nothing to do with it! It's the hardest place to get into and you're saying you ditched it for this!" Ino said, her eyes burning with the fire of god. Sakura looked around the old Raman bar and gave her an innocent smile.

"I like Raman more than lobster."

"You really are a dork," Ino said she was beyond herself now. "So who are you here with? Sasuke finally said yes?"

"Pft no, Naruto asked me and…" Sakura tried to finish.

"You're on a date with Naruto?" Ino cut in. Sakura really was trying to give her a heart attack.

"I guess if that's what you want to call it," Sakura said coolly as she leaned against the bar table.

"Well it looks that way, when did this all happen?"

"When you were sleeping you pig," Sakura said with a laugh. Ino rolled her eyes. "So why are you here?"

"Oh Shikamaru was going to pick me up here on this corner for a night out," Ino explained with a smile.

"Dressed up like that? Sounds like a date to me," Sakura told her with a grin.

"Haha very funny," Ino said, "But in all honesty I'm not the one being treated to

La Fanciraunte."

"Yea, yea," Sakura said, "Oh speak of the devil," Sakura caught her self as she saw the boy looking up at the lanterns. "Have fun Ino-pig on your date!"

"Not a date, have fun on yours though," Ino retorted as she left. Sakura sat back down when she heard Ino squeal, "How'd you know the pink rose would go perfect with this?"

"Lucky guess I guess," Shikamaru said with a sigh. "Come on let's go meet Chouji and the others."

Sakura laughed at the two. Good god, they were polar opposites. Sakura heard a crash and scream come form the kitchen and she turned around to find a disheveled Naruto standing in the door.

"You didn't pay your money yesterday did you?" Sakura asked with a smile. Naruto stared at her and could have jumped for joy that she hadn't caught on.

"Yea, I paid her back though and everything's fine, hey look our miso stew…" Ayame gave him an evil glare, "which we will be eating under… the umm… beautiful moon, hehe," Naruto giggled nervously. He grabbed the 2 large plates of Raman and took Sakura by her arm and began to walk towards the nearest clear table.

"You'll never guess whom I was talking to," Sakura said as she dove into her miso stew like a champ.

"Who?" Naruto said as he calmly tried to take in one noodle at a time. He tried perfect etiquette, oh how he sucked at etiquette.

"Ino and Shikamaru, they're going out tonight," Sakura said as she moved onto the noodles. "Hey why aren't you eating like you usually do, aren't you hungry?"

"Yea I am, I'm just trying, um, to be more mannerly," Naruto said with a smile.

"Well that's not like you," Sakura said as she took a drink of water.

"Well I'm trying to be nicer…" Naruto said, he was trying to find a good answer that wouldn't embarrass him and make him seem desperate… which in fact he was.

"Oh well, suit yourself," Sakura said with a smile as she sipped up the rest of her noodles, Sakura gave an evil smile, "I'll be right back I need to go wash my hands," Sakura said as she gathered her plates and walked off to hand them back to Ayame. As soon as he was sure she couldn't see Naruto gulped the whole bowl down. Sakura returned and rolled her eyes. "Well, you sure are mannerly fast." Sakura told him, "Let's get to the carnival now!"

"Ok!" Naruto agreed as he jumped up from his place. Sakura still felt like she wasn't really with Naruto but with a man she'd never met before, it was weird but when the real Naruto showed him self it was fun. She looked at the boy and still couldn't believe how fancy he was.

"Alright let's go," Sakura said. She looked at Naruto and hoped that he would just be his normal self around her instead of trying to impress her with all of these awesome things that all the girls wanted. But in all reality, all Sakura wanted to do was have the normal fun they usually had together.

* * *

D: Okay this is a long chapter for me, I'm sorry it took me forever but I have been really grossly sick lately and could barely get out of bed. I'm writing the next chapter tonight and tomorrow. It'll feature the fun they may or may not have at the festival. And don't worry Naruto will end up using his escape route Ayame told him to have incase things get awkward. That's all I'm saying… hehe. 

A/N: So I pictured the restaurant kind of like a French building like the kind you see in an old city. I couldn't say French because I doubt there is a France in that world.


	7. Games and Heights

Destiny: I don't own Naruto

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Chapter 7 Games and Heights

Sakura stared at the blonde child walking next to her. 'Naruto… he did this all... for me,' She thought to herself, she frowned andhung her headlowso that she waslooking at her sandals.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Naruto asked worriedly. 'She was gazing off again, she must not be having a good time,' he thought to himself with a frown. "Hey I know! Let's go play the games," Naruto said loudly as he took Sakura's wrist in his hand and ran towards a near by stand. Sakura was dragged behind him and couldn't help but smile at the boy who she had gotten to know so well over the past 6 years of her life.

"Okay Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said as flexed his muscles, "watch me win that prize right there!" he said as he pointed to an oversized dog, larger than herself.

"Hehe Naruto you know these things are rigged, there's like no way you can get all those cans off of the table, it's almost impossible, your accuracy has to be dead on," she explained the odds to him. But Naruto knows odds, and he knows how to break them.

"Alright you watch! 3 Balls please!" Naruto asked and the man did as he was asked and came back with 3 balls. Naruto threw the first one, and he got 4 of the five off but one still stayed stubbornly. "That was just a test run! Just watch!" Naruto said with a grin. The man behind the counter just shook his head and watched. Naruto threw the second one… and hit only 3 this time, off of the table. "Ah well it's only my second time," Naruto reassured her and smiled as he pick up the third ball and threw again… and this time it only hit 2 off. "AHHHH."

"Wanna try again?" The man asked taunting him. "Just 5 more bucks!"

"Sure why not! Anything for my Sakura-Chan!"

"Naruto! It's a trick you have a small chance of getting all of them off!" Sakura said as she slapped her forehead.

"Don't worry!" Naruto said with the up most confidence as he paid the man another 5 dollars and got 3 balls once again. He threw one… hit, and only got 3 off.

"Naruto, it's dumb it's just a trick," Sakura said as she watched the boy get more annoyed with every throw. He threw the next one and got a grand total of 3 off.

"Here!" Sakura yelled as she took away the last ball from Naruto's eager hands and she threw a glare to the man behind the counter. She aimed the ball and hit the cans. Every single one fell to the ground and she gave a cocky smile to the man behind the counter. "It's all about patience, accuracy, and strength, you have to put all of those together to get them all off!" Sakura said with a grin and had her fingers in a "V" symbol. "I'll have the cute fox stuffed animal thank you!" Naruto stared at the girl and all of a sudden felt very unmanly in that instant. His head hung and followed Sakura down the street. Sakura beat the odds this time.

"Here, you can have this Naruto!" Sakura said with a smile, "Accept it or else! It's very rude to not accept a gift, and that wouldn't be very mannerly of a man of etiquette!" Sakura said before Naruto could even pronounce a letter.

"Thank you Sakura-Chan," Naruto said a little discouraged as he took the cuddly fox from her hands. He looked down and shook his head, how pitiful he was. Sakura looked at him and frowned.

'Damn I made him feel like shit again! Ahhhhhh! Why do I always manage to do that!' Inner Sakura raged. 'I've gotta do SOMETHING! ANYTHING…' Sakura looked around and saw what she had to do… she gave a defeated sigh. Oh she really didn't want to do this… but she really didn't want Naruto to feel like crap either. She sighed, "Hey Naruto do you like Ferris wheels?"

" 'Do I like Ferris wheels?' I LOVE FERRIS WHEELS!" Naruto squealed. So it was decided.

Sakura looked up at the spinning wheel of doom and glared. She HATED heights, a secret she had _never _told anyone. She didn't mind climbing the trees because she was overly confident in her chakra ability; but being in a Ferris wheel, buckled into your seat with a metal bar over your lap, and being raised 50 feet off of the ground DID NOT sound fun to her, she was terrified. She could do nothing in her power to save her, or anyone else for that matter, while trapped in her seat. Oh she hated this. "Alright! Let's go then!" Sakura said cheerily, only allowing a terrified look to come out for a mere second, which Naruto of course did not see. She gulped a little as he took her hand and slightly dragged her to the line.

"AH! This line is going to take forever!" Naruto yelled, he was slightly annoyed. The line wasn't terrible but for Naruto's shot attention span, it was unbearable. Sakura on the other hand was freaking out. She looked at the giant machine in terror. She came up with 3 different ways to escape her seat if things went wrong. She could see how the screws were twisted in and she figured she could always make a chakra screw driver to open up the door… I mean she made a scalpel, how hard could that be? And then if that didn't work she could cut the seat belt in half, slip through the bar, grab Naruto, jump off, and use her monstrous strength to hold the Ferris wheel in place until back ups came. And if those two didn't work well then she'd have to go all 'crazy bitch' on its ass and rip the thing apart, enabling her to get out. "Sakura? Are you okay? You've been awfully silent," Naruto asked a little worried.

"Yea! Yea! I'm super! In fact I feel awesome! I CAN'T wait to get on this thing!" Sakura said as she waved her hand in the air as though trying to dispel any scared aura she may have let out.

"Really? Sweet! Because I LOVE these things!" Naruto said as he threw his fist up in the air with his signature grin.

"Yea yea… me too," Sakura whispered as she looked up. 'Damn it, LINE STOP MOVING! OH GOD! I'M GOING TO DIE!' Inner Sakura ranted. Despite her pleas the line kept going and kept moving. With in 10 minutes, they were at the top of the line. Sakura was wringing her hands nervously, and Naruto was pacing up and down, he was getting annoyed and could NOT stand still.

"Arg! How long have we been in this thing?"

"I don't know," Sakura said. "It went really quick though."

"You're joking! It's been like AN HOUR!" Naruto moaned.

"It's been like 5 minutes!" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"No!"

"Yea!"

"Um We've actually only been in the line for about 20 minutes," A quiet, but familiar voice said from behind them.

"20 minutes!" The both exclaimed as they whipped behind them. It was Hinata, and Kiba was standing next to her.

"Y… yes," Hinata said as she blushed a little.

"OH! HI HINATA!" Sakura said with a smile.

"Hey Hinata! What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked dumbly. Hinata blushed a little and then smiled. But Kiba cut in before she could say anything.

"It IS the Cherry Blossom Festival, everyone's here, dumb ass," Kiba told him matter of factly, his nose was up high as though he were something special. This irritated Sakura more than anything else.

"HEY I'M NOT A DUMB ASS, JACK ASS!" Naruto retorted as he began to rage towards him. Sakura's arms latched under his arms and calmly held him back

"You're GOING TO MESS UP YOUR KIMONO AND HIS KIMONO AND YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF YOURSELF," Sakura yelled at her blonde date hoping to put some sense into him.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN JACK ASS?" said an enraged Kiba. He started at him, but Hinata managed to grab him around the stomach and hold him back as well.

"KIBA-SAN! P-p-please stop trying to kill Naruto-kun!" Hinata whimpered, she was not going to let go.

"Naruto! Stop!" Sakura yelled, giving him a chance to stop willingly.

"But Sakura-Chan!" Naruto whined, "He's a jerk!"

"I don't care Naruto! It's a festival! We're allowed to not fight for A night, ONE NIGHT that's all!" Sakura told him as her grip strengthened around him.

"HINATA! PLEASE JUST ONE PUNCH!" Kiba yelled as he tried getting out of Hinata's grasp.

"NO! You can't hurt Naruto-kun!" Hinata told him as her grip strengthened around the boy.

"OI! Hinata by the way! You look very nice tonight!" Naruto said with a grin, still trying to get out of Sakura's grip. Sakura looked shock for a moment but managed to regain herself within an instant. 'Was I…' Sakura began to ask herself.

Hinata blushed even more and slowly brought her hands up to her face in embarrassment and giddiness. Kiba took this perfect opportunity. He sprinted towards his rival and hit Naruto Square in the nose.

"Don't hit on my date!" Kiba yelled as Naruto went down, Sakura glared at Kiba and started at him. She stomped towards the boy and moved her face close to his.

"YOU IDIOT!" Sakura started as Kiba started to back up in fear Sakura only followed him, making sure to keep her face in his. "NARUTO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO FLIRT!" Sakura yelled as she raised her arm to Kiba's head and flicked Kiba in the forehead with her middle finger. He was sent flying back to where Hinata stood.

Hinata just shook her head at the boy. She was pretty sure this would happen at some point. "Sorry Sakura-Chan," Hinata said as she gave a weak and sad smile; Sakura was right, Naruto didn't know HOW to flirt.

"It's no problem Hinata, sorry I hurt Kiba-san," Sakura said a little embarrassed with herself. She usually didn't loose her temper anymore unless it was on Naruto, it was odd she had never lost it FOR him before. "OH WOW! I love your Kimono! It's very cute!"

"Thank you Sakura! And sorry Kiba beat up Naruto, I hope it didn't ruin your night," Hinata said with a frail smile. Sakura gave her a smile also and before anymore-kind words could be exchanged, Naruto got up with a bloodied nose and began to yell.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto yelled.

Sakura sighed, whispered a "Shhhh," and grabbed his arm. She pulled him close and gave a meek smile to the other pair. Hinata watched a little envious, but still some what content as she also took Kiba's arm and helped him up.

"Come on Naruto, it's our turn," Sakura as she walked up the platform to their seats.

"Ugh fine," Naruto said as he glared at Kiba. Sakura grinned a little. There was the Naruto she knew and loved… wait loved? "Ok Sakura-Chan! Let's go!" Naruto said as though remembering she was there with him on a date.

"Okay!" Sakura said with a smile… and then, as though a brick hit her in the face, she looked up at the machine in terror. Damn, she had forgotten all about it. "Right," Sakura whispered as she slowly followed Naruto onto the platform

"Well, well, looks like you guys have lucky car number 13," a grungy man said with a grin, as he opened the door.

"Oi! Sakura-chan do you want to go in first?" Naruto said with a smile as he held out his arms leading to the seat. This wasn't going to work; all of her plans involved her being near the door.

"Oh, thank you Naruto!" Sakura said with a sweat drop. She followed his guiding arms and sat down in her seat.

"Please put your seat belt on Ma'am," the dirty man said as he closed the door behind Naruto. Sakura took a deep breath as she buckled the two ends together and Naruto pulled the bar over the two of them. The man gave one final smile and left to the push the start button.

"Oh God," Sakura whispered under her breath. They were only a few feet from the ground but she was already feeling sick.

"Hey Sakura-Chan! You know what's really fun about these things?" Naruto asked with a huge mischievous smile, "THIS!" Naruto started to swing the cart back and forth. Sakura screamed and flung her arms around Naruto's left arm as though that would save her from falling. Naruto's shoulders tightened up and he looked over to make sure it was real. He blushed and stopped swinging.

"Oh god, oh god…" Sakura whispered in a high voice, holding onto Naruto's arm like a boa constrictor. Naruto looked at her a little worried.

"Sakura-chan are you okay?"

"Yea, Yea! I'm fine! It's just I didn't expect to go up this high… this fast…" Sakura said as she looked down at the ground.

Naruto looked down to find they were only up about 6 feet from the ground. He looked at her with and eyebrow cocked. They had not gone up that fast either… what in the world? "Er… all right…" Naruto said uneasily. But he regained his smile and began to swing back and forth again. Sakura clung onto her seat for some kind of reassurance that wasn't there. The wheel kept going up higher and higher until everyone was on. Now that the last person was on they could finally start going.

"Okay here we go!" Naruto said with a grin as the Ferris wheel began to turn and turn. Sakura was no completely cutting off the circulation to Naruto's arm. After a couple of turns the ride began to slow down. "Awwww man that was only like 2 seconds long!" Naruto moaned. Sakura thanked God nothing went wrong. The ride stopped with Sakura and Naruto at the very top of the wheel.

"YEA! I love the top we can see everything!" Naruto said as he shook the cart enable to look over the town.

"AH STOP! STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO HURT YOURSELF!" Sakura yelled as she curled up in a little ball while grabbing for the metal bar.

"Ah OKAY OKAY! Jeez Sakura chill!"

"What?"

"You're acting really weird on this ride almost like you're…" Naruto said as his silence cut himself off. And then it clicked. He'd seen her look like this before… mostly when they were younger, but he knew this look it was like she was…

"OKAY! I HATE THESE THINGS; I'M TERRIFIED OF THESE THINGS! I FEEL LIKE I'M ABOUT TO DIE ANY MOMENT NOW AND I JUST WANT TO GET DOWN NOW!" Sakura yelled as she curled up in a little ball

Naruto looked at her oddly. "Wait… you hate these things?" Naruto asked stupidly.

"Yes," Sakura muttered.

"WHAT! You're a ninja, you're not scared of anything, not kunai, not drowning, SAKURA YOU'RE THE BEST AT CHAKRA CONTROL! Remember the tree challenge?"

"I know that already! I'm a wuss! Leave it alone! The only reason I loved climbing the trees was because I KNEW I wasn't going to fall! Here I'm unsure about EVERYTHING! How do I know the guy who built this didn't forget a screw, or that a cable won't bust? I do I know that I can get out of this thing if its going down?" Sakura ranted as she held onto the bar reassuringly.

"Well I guess you just have to have a little bit of faith in everything," Naruto said with a grin.

"Naruto," Sakura sighed and shook her head.

"No! Seriously Sakura-chan! Have a little faith in people. Believe that the guy who built this didn't forget a screw, have a little faith that the wires won't snap at any moment. And come on you know you have the best reaction time out of all of us! You could get out of here in a second! And come on! If you freeze up, you know I'll be here to catch you if we fall," Naruto answered her ran with his own. He gave a smile and a nice guy pose for her.

Sakura looked at the boy and gave him the kind of look that was unexplainable. She slowly let go of the bar and tried to be better about being brave and having a little bit more faith in people.

"See Sakura! It's not that bad!" Naruto said confidently.

"I guess not," Sakura said uneasily, and then it began to move again and she latched herself onto Naruto for support, knowing that having faith in him was all she needed. "I still hate these things…"

* * *

D: Okay! I'm back… sorry again, no excuses. But if you'd like to hear one of them I'll tell you anyway! Hehe. I had to go to a weak long retreat last weak, no computers, no school stuff. I loved it, but it gave me no time to type! But the retreat was sweet! I'm not all holy or anything but I know a lot more about myself! Which is always good! Okay well; expect the next chapter soon.

Chapter 8: Escape Route 101 (Oh yes a cute / sad chapter.)

PS: reviews are peachy!


	8. Escape route 101 The hill side love!

D: Yea MIRACLE I updated! I don't own Naruto and all that jazz! I hope you love it!

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Escape route 101

Naruto's shoulders tensed and his cheeks turned red with blushed. She was really holding him… or was he holding her? However this worked… there was a hug involving him and her… and she wasn't killing him. He was not looking forward to the end of this ride. But as he had already realized, there was an end to everything that was good in his life; he would rather just enjoy the moment he had now.

"Sorry Naruto," Sakura told him with a nervous smile as the cart descended another story leaving them about 20 feet from the ground, "But you can't dispel a fear that easily."

"Yea, looks like we'll have to go on these everyday so that you can get rid of it," Naruto grinned at her. Sakura giggled and looked towards the now darkening sky. The sun was setting and their day was almost over. Sakura sighed with a little bit of relief and yet depression. She had actually enjoyed her night.

"Hey Sakura-chan the sun's setting, you know what that means doncha?" Naruto asked childishly as he pointed to the west.

Sakura blinked dumbly, "no what does it mean?"

"The fireworks! The fireworks are going to happen when it gets dark!" Naruto yelled as he rocked the cart back and forth. Sakura squealed and clung onto Naruto's arm for dear life once again. "Sorry," Naruto said innocently.

"Yea right baka, you did that on purpose!" Sakura said as she stuck out her tongue childishly towards the boy.

"Na huh! I forgot you were afraid," Naruto told her innocently. Sakura rolled her eyes and hit him lightly on top of the head.

"Uh huh, I'm sure..." Sakura said as she grinned. She put her elbows on the bar securely and looked out over Konoha.

"Its weird, don't you think?" Sakura began.

"Hm?" Naruto asked. He turned his head towards the girl and watched her look over their city. 'My God… she's gorgeous…' Naruto thought as her bangs tossed around in the night's wind and her eyes glazed over in a sense of wander. Naruto didn't want to take his eyes off her.

"This city, its… ours, we're the ones directly responsible for this city being safe… its… I don't know, before being a ninja I was never really a part of being something bigger. You know? I was just me, alone, unless it was Ino, but she was a part of everything big. It's just weird that I'm a part of something bigger than myself," Sakura said, her eyes were still wandering over the village in a dreamy fashion.

"Yea, I know how you feel, actually exactly how you feel. All of sudden I'm really part of a family, or a community, just something bigger than myself, I'm actually…" Naruto stopped and tried to think of the word but he couldn't seem to get it out right.

"Useful?" Sakura ended as she turned her head towards the boy, her eyes were still in a dreamy gaze.

"Yea, that's the word," Naruto said calmly as he stared into her green eyes. His heart was racing and his mind seemed to get lost in her eyes. He loved her so much; he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"You know, I always thought I was useless, even when I was on team 7," Sakura admitted. "I think that's another reason I decided to become stronger, it was mostly to bring back Sasuke with you; but it was also that I needed to make a difference in someone else's life. I needed to know I effected someone, I needed to know I made someone's life better, I needed to know I wasn't useless."

And then there was silence between the two Sakura turned her head back to the lit up village, her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. She had never really told anyone about her worries of being useless, well hell she had never told anyone about her fear for Ferris wheels, why was she just opening up like this? Why was she making herself vulnerable?

"You know you were wrong… right?" Naruto told her as he looked over the city also.

"Hm?" Sakura replied, this time she was looking at his wandering eyes.

"Ha, your smile, it was always… it made me fight a little harder, every time. I loved to see you smile, even when I was a kid. It made my day seem a little brighter, that's kind of why I knew I had to bring Sasuke back, you were so unhappy, I was afraid I'd never see you smile again. You made an impact on me, I can promise that one," Naruto told her, not taking his eyes off of the sun setting.

"Naruto," Sakura began, her eyes were boring into the boy as though to figure out why this boy loved her so much, how could she make someone feel like this? "Thank you, but I'm still glad I got stronger, I think I have done more for everyone by becoming stronger."

"Heh, we've both become really strong, who would have known? The most underestimated kids of the rookie nine have become some of the best ninjas of the leaf!" Naruto said with his huge grin. The ride had come to a halt; it seemed like they had only been up there for a short time.

"Aw that had to only have been 5 minutes you jerk!" Naruto told the worker sourly as he jumped down from the car and turned towards Sakura. "Need a helping hand down?" He asked her as he lifted hi had towards her shaky body. She slowly made her way down from what she originally thought was the 'death machine,' and took his hand for support.

"Thanks Naruto," Sakura said with a grin. She walked off beside him, making their way down the street. She noticed the dimly, yet nicely, lit town, the lanterns were sown down the streets, decorations galore were fitted perfectly onto any standing monument, Sakura tree pedals floated around in the sun setting sky, all of this adding together made one of the most romantic and beautiful scenes Sakura had ever witnessed. "Oh its beautiful out tonight Naruto," Sakura said as she twirled around in front of him, much like a child does when they see something they love. Naruto stood feet away from here and admired her immaturity for a moment.

"Yea it really is beautiful," Naruto mumbled with a dreamy smile.

"Hey, what should we do next? I've conquered the Ferris wheel and the games," Sakura shouted to him victoriously, while having her arms up as though she was showing off her muscles. This must have been one of the many reasons why Naruto loved her; she really was like him on the inside.

"Haha you're getting cocky now!" Naruto said as he ran up in front of her, his face perfectly in front of hers and he stuck out his tongue childishly.

"Oh I don't think so!" Sakura said with a grin across her face, she still had her arms up as though showing off her muscles. "Look at these guns! I can take down any challenge!"

"Ha yea right! You can't take down me," Naruto told her confidently as he stood up also, hands on hips standing very cockily.

"Pft, yea right! Just watch me!" Sakura said as she took down her arms and put her fingers in the flicking position. She brought it up to Naruto's forehead. "What are you thinking now?" Sakura asked with a sly grin.

"That you're about to do something that wouldn't hurt me in the least, I've been hurt worse," Naruto said as he stuck out his tongue once again.

"Hmmm this is true," Sakura said as she dropped her hand to her side and but her hands on her hips also and began to walk forward, she was still grinning.

"Ha!" Naruto said, "I guess we're tied then!" He ran after the pink-haired girl.

"No, it's just a cease fire," Sakura told him as she twirled around and grinned. "I really have to go to the restroom, haha! Too much of that fancy water!" Sakura told him as they stopped at the nearest bathroom.

"Yea well I guess I kinda gotta go too," Naruto admitted.

"Okay! Half time ready break!" Sakura yelled playfully as she walked in to the girl's bathroom. She did her business and made her way to the sink. And there next to the sink stood Ten Ten also washing her hands. She was wrapped in a gorgeous yellow kimono with red flowers and gold vines sown in between the seams.

"Sakura-chan! Hi! How are you? You look beautiful!" Ten Ten told her with a smile.

"Hey Ten Ten! I'm doing great; you look wonderful also! I really like your Kimono!" Sakura replied as she began to dry off her hands.

"So who are you here with, the young Uchiha?" Ten Ten asked with plain curiosity.

"Oh no no," Sakura giggled, "I'm here with Naruto!"

"Really?" Ten ten squeaked, "sorry, I've just never really thought of you as a couple."

"It's not really like that," Sakura rambled out quickly, her face reddening faster than she could get out any words. "We're just really great friends! Believe me, it's just a friendship thing, friends, haha yup, friends."

Ten Ten looked at her as though she were a little crazy. "Yeaaaa… hehe."

Sakura regained her composure slightly, "So who are you with then? Neji?"

"Haha, uhhhh well actually Lee!" Ten Ten confessed also.

"Really, that's cute!"

"Yes, yes it is," ten Ten said, blushing slightly. "Well I better get back to him, Bye Sakura have fun tonight!"

"You too!" Sakura called after her and also made her way out of the restroom.

Sakura walked out of the restroom with a grin, and walked over to where Naruto was sitting. He wasn't smiling very much now, it was just a kind of sad smile.

"Naruto, let's go! Where too next?" Sakura chimed in, hoping to get that grin on his face once again. And then nothing. He just sat there. Sakura looked at him, oddly, what in the world was wrong with him.

"Naruto, what's wrong! C'mon the fireworks are going to," Sakura started but Naruto cut in.

"You'd rather be here with Sasuke huh? I heard you in the restroom with Ten Ten, you guys were kinda loud," Naruto chuckled sadly.

"That's not what I said!" Sakura yelped at his accusation.

"But that's what you're thinking! You're always thinking about Sasuke, I know you are because you're like me! I'm always thinking about you!"

And then there was an eerie silence that befell the two. Sakura's teary eyes bore into Naruto's hurt cerulean eyes as though to find an answer to him. She stood there and felt completely useless again, completely wrong, and completely confused. "Naruto, I haven't thought about him at all tonight, but if I'm making you feel that bad then I'll just go, I'm sorry I'm hurting you," Sakura replied hoarsely as she turned on her heal to leave. She began to storm off in a random direction, any direction.

Naruto stared at the woman for a minute as she began to walk away, this was all wrong, there was no way he had ever had a chance with her, why was she lying? He can take the truth; he's taken it for 6 years. He watched his last chance fade into the darkness behind a crowd of well dressed people. He sat there for a moment, drowning himself in his own thoughts, he had known that all of this was too good to be true.

'Crap…' Naruto thought, 'I made her cry…' Naruto sighed and slowly got up, wandering what to do now. He would never forgive himself now; he had made a silent promise to himself that he would not be like that bastard and make her cry. He just went against a promise. Naruto walked into the crowd to try and find the girl that was lost in the world. It's not a very easy task, mind you, but the pink hair definitely helped.

She was sitting on a bench, alone, her hands resting on each cheek; it was obvious she was daydreaming. Naruto saw her, he cursed once again and slowly made his way to her. He walked up close to her, her eyes still very distant from the world around her; it was as though she didn't even realize he was there. He took her hand, and pulled her up. She followed him like a lost sheep. She had no idea where they were going, she had no idea why she was following him, but she was. She was very silent on the way there; Naruto was just as silent. They made their way up the hill around the cherry blossom trees, she thought for a second they may be in the park, but she wasn't sure, she had never seen this part before.

They finally made their way up the hill and Naruto stopped and turned around, "Here go through right here," Naruto told her as he picked up a couple of branches so she could walk through. She walked through and looked around, it was a small clearing on the top of a very big hill, and you could see the entire city from here. It was absolutely gorgeous, she turned to him and not really knowing what to say to him.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan., I should have known to not ask you out, it must have been awkward for you. I don't want you to _act_ like you like me, I hope this kind of makes up for it, I come up here every year to watch the fireworks, that's why I was so happy to see the sun setting on the Ferris Wheel. It's really a pretty view," Naruto began to ramble, not really knowing what to say next. He was just hoping not to break into another awkward silence.

"Naruto," Sakura whispered, he didn't hear her, "Naruto!" Still clueless… "NARUTO! Jeez," Sakura ended up yelling. He still didn't hear her, what was she going to do now? He just kept rambling dumbly. She picked up her fingers and prepared to flick him in the forehead, that shut him up, but just in case. Sakura leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Naruto looked at her dumbly, his mouth open as though he were a fish. And then all was silent. 'Okay!" Sakura thought with a smile.

"It's okay, the only problem is, I do like you, I was having the best time I've had in FOREVER, tonight. And I'm being truthful. I never, not once, thought about Sasuke when I was around you. You really showed me a good time, and I do like you, I'm just kind of confused." Naruto was still looking at her dumbly. He shook his head as though to get out of his daydream-y gaze. He gave her a childish grin.

"Okay, that sounds good to me," Naruto told her as he walked to the edge of the hill and plopped down in his nice Kimono.

"haha, what happened to being a gentleman, you're getting your Kimono all dirty!" Sakura laughed.

"haha it doesn't matter it's Kiba's!" Naruto said with a big grin. Sakura sat down next to him and laughed with him. It was so Naruto to borrow a Kimono for the one he loved, to do all of this, to go through all of that trouble and then finally realize that she was actually just like him. That she was just as unruly and just as childish as he was.

He stared at her for a moment and grinned, 'what a cutie,' he thought to himself. And then all of a sudden a burst of colors lit the sky and showered the town with even more beauty.

"Ah! Look Naruto!" Sakura pointed to the next one as she plopped down next to him and stared off into them. Naruto stared at the orange and pink firework mesh together and make a nicely lit sky. He smiled at her, God… he loved her.

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D: w00t I um… updated! Hahaha I loved writing this chapter! I hope you all like it! Oh yes Sakura kissed him, sadly no Naru/Saku make out scenes, haha. They will come… maybe. Hehe. Well I love you all! Don't be afraid to tell me what you think.

PS The escape route was the hill side, if anything went wrong, that a way to save it all hehe.


	9. The Rain and the Quirks!

D: How exciting! I FOUND INSPIRATION TODAY… in the middle of physics class… odd? I know! So moving forward to chapter 9! I hope you all like it, it was way hard to find out where to go from the last chapter… but now I think you'll like this ALOT.

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Chapter 9: The Rain and the Quirks.

_So you know that awkwardness that you get after your first date with someone? That silent walk home with him and you can tell that both of you are in deep thought about something? And that something is **you**. And all of sudden your stomach starts to get upset, the nausea begins to set in, and the once amazing energy you felt has been zapped right out of you. The worst part is your mind starts to race! You start thinking about you thinking about them thinking about you, and you begin to freak out and try to find out how to abandon this crazy idea of a date! _

"YOU IDIOT!" The girl yelled as she hit the boy on the backside of the head, "It's raining and you forgot an umbrella!"

_But for some odd reason…_

"OUCH! SAKURA-CHAN! I'm sorry! I'm the worst date ever! But I think its going to be fun running down the hill in the rain!"

_This didn't seem to apply to them. _

The two sprinted down the hill as fast as they could, both laughing and giggling ever so childishly. Sakura had her gorgeous shoes, flying behind her in hand and Naruto was in front looking back at her with a huge grin across his face, his hair was now becoming matted down by the rain and his kimono was now speckled with brown dots across its orange pattern. Sakura's white kimono was also speckled with brown spots but luckily she had grabbed the ends of the kimono and picked it up so that it wouldn't drag. She didn't seem to mind the mud though; she was laughing and grinning all the same.

They're feet took them to the end of the of the steep hill, and Naruto turned around as fast he could, and out stretched his arms, ready to catch Sakura. And then they collided. Sakura jumped in the air, Naruto caught her around the waist and twirled her around in the air until he put her down safely onto the grass. Her hair was falling out of her perfect bun, and her make up was smearing left and right, and still Naruto could not say he's ever seen such a beautiful girl.

It would have been a perfect moment if Sakura's heel hadn't slipped. Sakura's eyes bulged and everything seemed to go into slow motion, she grabbed onto Naruto for support but he was also taken down way to easily and they both landed with a splash.

This wasn't the cute fall in the rain… the one where Sakura had seen in movies where they ended up perfectly on each other in the kissing position. No… they landed the way they always seemed to end up. Awkwardly and yet right. Sakura clung onto Naruto until she slid out of reach and let go. Naruto fell along with Sakura and they both bashed their heads together, and landed with their heads touching and their legs on the opposite side with their faces towards the sky. Naruto cringed, he was definitely going to get belted for that stupid move, and then the pain did not come. Instead even more laughter filled the air.

Sakura was laughing so hard, it felt like she was crying, Oh… she was! She tried to get up from her sprawled out position on the grass, and kept falling and tripping, Naruto got up rather easily which surprised Sakura even more. He gave her his hand and she gladly accepted the help up. She came level with him, and he stared at her, make up completely gone and her hair as wild as it was during the chuunin exams. He smiled. She glared.

"What? I know my hair looks terrible! And my make up is probably running! But stop looking at me like that!" Sakura yelped as she turned away with a pouty look. Naruto just laughed.

"I didn't even notice," He said.

"Then you're blind," Sakura retorted but this time with a smile.

"Maybe… but if so then I think being blind is better," Naruto said, and then he was hit on the head. "Ow what was that for Sakura-chan?!"

"You just indirectly said I was ugly!" Sakura yelled.

"What! No I meant, that looks aren't as important as who you are and I don't even care what you look like… jeez!" Naruto said rubbing his head, "That one hurt!"

Sakura shook her head as though she was annoyed, but inner Sakura was raving. 'C'mon snatch him! He's perfect!' Sakura smiled a little and then looked up at the sky. Lightening crossed and lit up the path before her, and soon a rolling thunder shook them. Sakura yelped a little and looked at Naruto.

"Maybe we should run for home now," Sakura suggested. She was not exactly a lover of thunderstorms, once again because it was something she could not control.

Naruto laughed and gave her the nice guy pose. "Anything you want Sakura Chan!" Sakura smiled and with that, they both sprinted down the main streets of Konoha. Both were still bare foot, but they dashed across the road. They splashed through puddles and mud. They skipped across the concrete and grass. Naruto grabbed her hand as they ran and they ran, hand in hand smiling. Both didn't have a care in the world.

Neither of them was thinking about what the other thought about them, both didn't care. They knew each other, and they knew that there was no one else in the world that could understand each of them as much as the other did. They just loved being in each other's presence, just being kids again, and not being ridiculed for it. They were very different from each other, and yet because of their funny and rather interesting quirks, they were very much alike. No one would have guessed that those two kids running down the street were 18 years old.

They ran and ran and ran, and finally they made it to Sakura's apartment building and ran up stairs to where her door was. She smiled at the boy sweetly. And gave him a funny look, Naruto had mud all over his arms and all over Kiba's kimono. She giggled a little and spoke, "Oh jeez Naruto, you're really going to have to come over tomorrow so we can clean that up. I don't want Kiba to kill you."

Naruto looked down and laughed, "I guess that's from where we almost killed each other," Naruto said.

"Ha yea probably," Sakura laughed at he short-term memory.

"Ow," Naruto mumbled, Sakura looked at him oddly. Naruto was now holding his chest weirdly. Sakura walked over to him worriedly, and prayed that it wasn't anything bad.

"What's wrong?!" Sakura asked urgently.

"A really, sharp pain, in my chest, hold on," Naruto told her and he started taking the top of the kimono off.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH! Wait! People can't see you naked outside of my apartment!" Sakura yelped, "What if…"And then Sakura was cut off as Naruto pulled out what had kept poking him.

"Oh yea… I forgot about that, here Sakura Chan… totally forgot to give this to you at the beginning of the date," Naruto pulled out the pink rose and gave it to her. The rose was crinkled and crumbled and it looked like it had definitely seen better days, but none the less it was Sakura's favorite rose she's ever been given.

"Aw that's sweet of you Naruto, but you know, you need to give the girl the flowers before the date." Sakura said with laughter.

"Hey it went pretty smoothly I'd say!" Naruto said with a smile. "Well its getting rather cold out, and I don't want to keep you up too late, so I'll talk to you…"

Naruto was cut off by a kiss on the cheek and she smiled sweetly. "Thank you Naruto, I had a great time and it was a lot of fun! I'll see you tomorrow at our morning brunch, okay?"

Naruto's face was bright red and he had a grin from ear to ear. "Y-Yea of course! Brunch tomorrow! I'll definitely be there!" "By Sakura-Chan," he began to say in a sing song voice, "I'm glad you had a good time! See ya!"

"See ya!" Sakura replied as she watched him skip down the steps and down the street, she laughed and went inside. She looked in the mirror and found out how bad she actually looked. "Oh, jeez…" Sakura said really loud, but then she whispered, "but he didn't care…" She stared out into the rainy streets of her village, and started to get lost in her own thoughts.

"HE'S PERFECT! HE'S NICE! HE'S A NINJA! HE LIKES YOU! AND HE DOESN'T CARE WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE! GO FOR HIM! REEL HIM IN! GO FOR IT… FOR GOD'S SAKE CATCH THIS ONE!"

Sakura sighed at her wandering thoughts…

Since when has Inner-Sakura ever been wrong?

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D: Woah! Way sorry for the late update! But none the less, I did update I've had a bit of writer's block for this story (probably because I broke up with my boy friend haha!) But I'm back and chock full of ideas. I just need to know how to end this baby! 

Sorry! There's a reoccurring question on the reviews. Yes Sakura does know about the Kyuubi being inside Naruto.

Chapter 10's up next! Wow… !!!!


	10. Sick Sick Sick!

Destiny: Hey guys. I know it's been so long but college has really done a number on me. I love it and hate it all at the same time.But hey, guess what I got my brick of inspiration in Anthropology class. Crazy right? Class must be where I'm most creative. Well with out further waiting… here's the long awaited chapter, I really am so sorry. But I hope you love this chapter!

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Chapter 10: Sick Sick Sick! 

Naruto woke up to find himself violently coughing for the third time that night. His eyes drooped and looked at the time, 5:00 am. He sniffed and let his upper body once more collapse on the couch in exhaustion and defeat. He hadn't even made it to his bed that night after he had skipped home from his date, he just flopped down on his old disgusting couch and fell asleep in his cold, wet clothes. He greatly regretted his decision not to take a warm shower or at least to change clothes. He stared at the ceiling, his whole body felt weak and his muscles were cramping and aching. He was not used to this feeling at all. It had been so long since he had been sick; usually living in an orphanage exposed one to all illness at an early age causing him to never get sick when he was an adult. He slowly tried to fall asleep once again and did so with in a matter of minutes.

* * *

"Oi! Hey Sasuke-kun!" Sakura waved as she saw the raven haired boy head towards their normal morning meeting place. He sat down in the open stool next to her and ordered some morning coffee. 

"Hey Sakura," He murmured.

"How was your night last night?" Sakura questioned as she examined the bags under his eyes and his pale face. "It looks like you had a long one."

"Yea, I was just up investigating old documents about… well Uchiha stuff." He ended quickly as his coffee came to relieve him from talking. Sakura had learned not to press the subject of Sasuke and his investigations into his own clan; he would ask her if he needed her help. He has before, especially when he became paranoid about him becoming blind one day, he asked for medical advice from the only medic he trusted.

"Ah," Sakura breathed and blew on her warm coffee. There was a bit of an awkward silence between the two. Sakura stared into the distance, usually her mind would be racing with conversation starters for the boy next to her, or her heart would be beating for they were sitting next to each other, by themselves. But instead she was thinking about why her blonde companion had yet to come and relieve them with his crazy antics. Then the silence was broken randomly by, for the first time in while, Sasuke.

"That mission is tomorrow morning isn't it? The one into the old sound territory?" He asked seriously. Sakura looked at him; he was actually making eye contact with her as though this were a serious subject.

"Well yea, but I wouldn't worry its just the old territory the chances of some of the old members actually still inhibiting it are low, they've caught most of the followers already," Sakura said calmly meeting his gaze with an unworried smile.

"Sakura, please just be on your guard, the ones they haven't captured, they're obviously good ninja, possibly ranked up with the," Sasuke was cut off.

"Sasuke-kun. I'm perfectly able to handle myself out there and you know that, its not even a major mission, we are just asked to go out there and deliver a package to an old friend of Tsunade-sensei's."

"Sakura, you know I just worry, this is the first time you will not be with Me, Naruto, Kakashi or even Sai in a long time, you know how we like to know you're at least with one of us," Sasuke told her. Sakura smiled, he was actually worried about her. Sakura blushed and gave a meek smile.

"I'll be fine, I'll be back before you know it, I give my promise!" Sakura said and gave him the thumbs up. He smirked at the girl, she had really become one of the guys, and she was easily offended when she thought they were speaking about how weak she was but really she was the one they were just most afraid to lose.

"All right, so long as that is settled, I only have 2 more weeks until I can go on active duty again, how great is that?" Sasuke said, he actually seemed excited… something he had not shown in a while.

"That's awesome and we'll be the team we always wanted to be, I really am pumped for that, our first mission with you back on the team." She gave him a big grin and returned to her coffee.

Sasuke gave her a relieved smile, he was actually happy they had accepted him back as they once were. Everything seemed like it may actually go back to normal once again. He had met Sai, and had some brief encounters with him, and although he had been part of team 7 he was glad that Sai had gone back to the Anbu, that way Sasuke could, in fact, have his old team back. Sai would once in a while drop in on breakfast, or come and say good bye to the team as they went off on their missions rarely, he still felt a connection with them.

As peace settled between the two there came a poof.

"Sensei, sit down, you always try and scare us with that and it never works, we just become angry that you're late." Sakura said as she waved him towards the stool next to her that was open.

"I never try and scare you," he said with a bright sparkle in his eye, "are you packed and ready for this mission? Tsunade said it was of great importance that this friend of hers got the medicine she needed."

"Yea I'm packed and ready we leave at 500 hours. And it's just because this old friend of hers give so much money to the village, I wouldn't be surprised if all she had was a head cold."

"Are you going to be expected to cure her?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yea, if she'll let me, supposedly she's a stubborn old witch," Sakura replied, and as she thought about it a little more maybe that's why Tsunade and this woman really were friends. Her lips curled into a sneer at the thought that could get her a thwacking from her master.

"Hey where's Naruto?" Kakashi said after a small pause and a look around. Sasuke shrugged and looked behind him as though Naruto was about to sneak up behind him. Sakura's eye brows furrowed; she looked onward with concern. What if he didn't make it home safely last night? What if an Akatsuki member was waiting for him to be off guard, what if…

"I'll go check up on him and then go take a nap before my mission, are you guys going to see me off like usual?" Sakura asked with a fake smile as she pulled her purse close and started towards the cashier.

"I'll try but no guarantees," Sasuke mumbled, Sakura knew this meant he was going, he had not missed a sending off since he had been home.

"You know me," Kakashi said with a grin. Sakura gave a weak smile and paid for her food plus some more.

* * *

She waved good bye to the two and began in the direction towards Naruto's raggedy apartment. Her wondering made her pick up speed to a near jog, and then she eventually said screw it and went full speed ahead. She made it to his place in record time and banged on the door in hopes he would answer. No answer. She breathed a worried sigh and pulled out the key to his apartment. 

She made her way in and the ringing of his alarm was automatically heard she walked in only to find her foot in a puddle. "Kisame," she thought in a brief moment of insanity. The place was a mess as usual so you really couldn't tell if there was an actual struggle or if it was just Naruto being an irresponsible housekeeper.

She made her way passed the empty couch, which was oddly wet as well. Sakura's heart was beating wildly. They couldn't have done this. There was no way they could have… She ran to Naruto's room and crashed open the door with her brute force, sadly breaking the door off its hinges. And to her great relief, surprise and anger there lay Naruto completely unhurt and completely unaware of what was going on around him. Sakura's body somewhat crashed and she began to get a headache. She reached for the alarm clock and threw it across the room crashing into the kitchen counter and breaking into a thousand little pieces.

"Naruto, YOU IDIOT!" Sakura screamed as she walked angrily to his bedside. Naruto's eyes slowly opened and remained only halfway opened.

"Sakura-chan? Is that you or is it another dream?" Sakura punched him in the head in annoyance. As a bump grew rather large across the crown of his head he replied to his past statement. "Oh… no you're definitely real Sakuar-ch," but Naruto was cut off by a series of brutal coughs.

"Naruto, how long have you had that cough?" Sakura asked worriedly, her pulse had finally come down from where it had been, "and why didn't you call me, you gave me a damn heart attack! I was so worried you idiot, I thought something had seriously happened to you, I swear I stopped breathing for 5 minutes." Naruto gave a small smile across his flush face where snot was running down from his nose.

"I kinda did something awful," he said in a dull voice clearly done because his nose was completely clogged, "I slept with those wet clothes on last night." Sakura's eyes widened and she raised her fist ready to strike against his stupidity again. She managed to stop herself and decided this was more than punishment. She brought up a chair and sat next to the boy and decided the Kyuubi must not be used to actual diseases and illness just outward injuries and cell regeneration.

"You probably have pneumonia you idiot, with a cough like that and this high fever, oh Naruto, give me a second, here give me a second I need to examine your lungs." Sakura reached into her large purse and with annoyance her eye twitched. Out of all the things she could have forgotten she had forgotten her stethoscope. "Damn I forgot my stethoscope, hold on, I think I'm going to have to do this in an utterly basic way," she said half to herself and half to Naruto. She took a deep breath and looked at the boy.

She felt so awful; she could have at least offered him clothes when he was over. She had more of his clothes than she could believe. She often times ended up staying the night over here when she did his laundry or helped him with training so she stole a lot of his clothes. These were never considered anything more than a friend helping another friend out of course.

"What are you going to have to do?" Naruto asked her a little worried; she hadn't sounded too happy about doing this.

"Oh, well um, I'm just going to have to, um… put my ear up against your chest as you breathe in and out. It's not a big deal I mean sometimes I can here it even more clearly," She reassured him, but really she was just trying to reassure herself that it wasn't going to be as awkward as she had led herself to believe. She looked over at the blonde who seemed to be even more flushed and he was looking away towards the window as to not make eye contact.

"Oh sure, I mean, it would just be faster right? Haha just go ahead," Naruto said and then Sakura noticed he was already shirtless which made it a little less awkward, she didn't have to ask him to take his shirt off.

"All right, well here," Sakura pressed her ear against his chest she listened carefully, "ok go ahead and take a couple of deep breathes," she tried to listen but her mind was racing.

His chest felt so muscular and she could only think about being under his body in a warm embrace, his strong arms around her shoulders and chest on hers. Even if he was sick... She shook her head a little as though to wave away her wanting for his body, she could feel her own heart rate begin to race, a very different type of adrenaline than she had been feeling earlier, and she felt Naruto's chest begin to beat harder and faster.

She listened and as he began to take breaths, she was able to clear her mind and hear that there was a lot of fluid in his lungs. She lay there for a second just to lay there as though she had forgotten why she was laying on his chest in the first place. She snapped herself out of it and shot upwards.

"Yea! Um YES! You definitely have a lot of fluid in your lungs!" She said her face was so red she could feel it, it was awful.

"So what should, um, I do?" Naruto said trying to keep the conversation going, he was gripping his hands together as though to try and control his adrenaline.

"Well, I have some strong antibiotics with me already, I'd still go up and talk to shizune tomorrow though," she said as she searched through her large purse, "I have them with me now just incase someone gets terribly sick on the mission tomorrow morning." Naruto's eyes widened a little he had almost forgotten about the mission tomorrow.

"Sakura, are you going to be okay going on this mission, you barely know any of the team you're going with, and I don't trust them in keeping you sa…" Naruto was once more cut off by a row of violent coughs. Sakura ran to the kitchen and got some water for him. "Thank you," he said as he took a drink, "keeping you safe, I wish they had chosen at least one of us to go with you."

"In a state like this, you wouldn't be much help sweetheart," she said with a laugh but Naruto frowned. Everyone seemed to be so serious about this mission, she couldn't help but be very care free. He stared at her with so much concern etched in his face.

"Look," she said staring at him straight in the eye, "we have a limited amount of medic-nin willing to work the field out there, I'm going to have to get used to going with out you guys once in a while, right? That's what a good medic must do."

"Sakura you are the best medic-nin, but I just wish I was there to make sure that nothing happens to you, no one on that team could say they'd risk getting hurt to save you and Kakashi and Sasuke definitely would," he said worriedly. Sakura frowned at the boy, he had not said he would risk getting injured for you.

"What about you?" she decided to push the subject, "you wouldn't risk getting injured for me?" She set the pills on the table adjacent from his bed.

"I would risk my life to make sure a hair on your head was never touched." He said with a huge grin and Sakura giggled childishly.

"You're such a charmer, you'll be there tomorrow morning right? Even if you are sick?" she said as her elbows found their way onto his bed and her head fell into her hands. She stared at the boy; his eyes always managed to catch her attention for some reason, even when she had no interest in him. They were just a pair of eyes that anyone could get lost in easily.

"Of course I will! I would never miss saying good bye before a mission. But I'm afraid I'm going to end up getting you sick." he said sadly.

"Nah, I have all those crazy vaccines and I'm nearly one hundred percent sure you have Pneumonia." Sakura said as her head lolled to her right hand.

"I feel awful," he said with a frown.

"I know, but honestly what were you expecting to get if you stayed in those clothes all night?" She asked as her eyes closed, she too was still tired from last nights-crazed events. All in all, she had only gotten around 4 hours of sleep. He smiled and thought to himself that maybe if he didn't take off those clothes then that night wouldn't had ended.

"I guess I'm just a lazy idiot," he decided to say instead with his dumb grin, Sakura picked up her left arm and hit him lightly across his head with her eyes still shut.

"You're a ninja, you were totally unaware of anything when I came in."

"Yea I know, hey why were you so worried anyway when you came in?" He wondered out loud.

"You really wanna know?" Sakura asked a tiny bit embarrassed. Naruto nodded. "I saw that puddle of water and thought Kisame had come to take you away," Sakura said. Her lips were no longer in a smile instead she was biting down on them and her chin was quivering, she really had been afraid. Instead of actually noticing this Naruto began to laugh. Sakura twitched with his laughter and opened her eyes and stood up over his bed, her eyes seething with anger and she yelled "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Naruto stopped and looked at her, his eyes still drooping, but then he noticed there were tears building up in her eyes, "I only laughed because I couldn't believe you were really that worried about me." Sakura began to shake and she began to cry.

"You idiot," she whispered as she sat back down on the chair and lay her head in her hands. Naruto actually felt bad, he couldn't even see her when she told him about her fear. He couldn't even keep his eyes opened when she was talking, how was he supposed to know she felt that bad.

"Jeez Sakura-chan, this is why I love you." He whispered as he brought his arm up and squeezed his shoulder. Sakura lifted her head from her hands and stared at the boy. 'Loved her?' "You're so damn caring and worried about all of us all the time, you're wonderful."

Naruto did not regret for a second that he said he loved her. He meant it. It just would suck if she felt awkward about it, because he most certainly didn't. There was a brief moment of silence.

"Are you cold?" Sakura asked him. He smiled and looked up, thankful that there was little to no awkwardness.

"Yea actually my whole body feels like its about to freeze." He said. He lifted up his hand and put it against her hand. She pulled away because it was so cold.

"Scoot over I'll lay next to you, I'm too tired to actually go home and sleep and I'm sick of sleeping on the couch, plus it will help you feel warmer." Naruto's whole face felt like it was on fire all of a sudden. He scooted over and she climbed in next to him. She lay beside him in the fetal position under the covers. And he lay behind her feeling awful.

"You're not going to get any sleep with me coughing," He said trying to make sure this was ok with her.

"I work at a hospital, I'll do fine." She replied wittily. His lips curled, and he grinned, this was possibly the happiest he had been in a while.

"Good Night Naruto."

"Good Night Sakura"

* * *

D: WHEW! What a flippin chapter! I love it! It made me so happy on the inside while I was writing it, I hope you all kind of feel the same way while reading it. PLUS! I now know how I'm going to end! It will most definitely be done in 2-3 chapters. And you all will LOVE the ending. I will try try try to finish this before the end of break! 

Next chapter: Mission of the Sound! Sakura Says Good-Bye!


	11. Questions and GoodByes

D: ALL RIGHT LET'S DO THIS SHIT!!!!!!!

* * *

Chapter 11 Questions and Good-byes 

It was now late into the afternoon in the city of Konoha and outside of the small apartment it was raining once again. The gravel streets were gray with running water and the streets were lined with different colors and designs of umbrellas. The wind was strong and the trees swayed with each breath from Mother Nature. It was the perfect day to sleep in and forget about the worries of everyday life, which was the intention of the blonde boy; although he had to admit, he barely got any sleep in the first place. He lay in bed next to Sakura all night and just thought about the situation, he'd start to get to sleep and then a rush of excitement would go through his body, like an electrical shock.

"Hey Sakura-chan?" Naruto mumbled.

"Yea," she sleepily replied. She was close to dozing off, but it didn't feel right going to sleep at 2 in the after noon. She was used to late night missions, not early morning missions. But that wasn't quite it, that could be the reason why she was up, she was a skilled ninja able to adapt to what she needs to including sleeping times.

"Ah, I was just wondering if you were actually awake,"

"You idiot, what if you had just woken me up."

"Well then I guess it would have been a bigger deal then and you would have knocked me out of my own bed or something along those lines," Naruto poked fun.

"Jeez you have one hell of a fever I can feel you from over here."

"Really? I feel really cold," Naruto replied. Sakura sighed and turned around to face Naruto face to face. She stared at him for quite a while with out saying a word. Naruto's eyes widened and his cheeks felt hot and he was sure she was going to see him blush. Luckily the fever covered it up quite well and Sakura didn't notice any difference what so ever.

"Naruto, do you remember when we first were put on team 7 together and you asked me to lunch?"

"Well yea and you immediately shot me down?" Naruto said with a chuckle. Sakura smiled for a moment and then frowned at the memory.

"Naruto, why did you like me so much? I was a bitch." Sakura told him blatantly.

"Nah," Naruto said as he moved his body to a more comfortable position to look at her eyes, "it wasn't your fault. We were both young and you didn't understand a lot of things, you just understood what your friends told you and they told you I was a bad person."

"But if you had been told I was a bad person I doubt you would have acted like that." Sakura admitted, her lips were still marked in a frown.

"Well, I'm different, but you're different too. Right? You changed before the rest of them did, the other genin that is."

"It still shouldn't have been like that."

"Nah its fine. I mean that was a long time ago and now look at us, we're at the least best friends."

"Well, you forgot to answer my question why did you like me back then when all I did was give you hell."

"Well that's easy, you were pretty and smart and loved and yet you wanted something more, you wanted to be acknowledged by someone else, although it was Sasuke and not me, you reminded me so much of myself back then. I loved it; we're so much alike, not just back then but now. We were both extremely underestimated and now we're the most improved. We both have such an odd sense of humor and we're both perverted and quirky whether you'd like to admit it or not!" Naruto said with a big smile and laughed at his last statement. Sakura smiled and laid bent her elbow landing her head on her hand. There was a brief silence as Sakura sucked in the information.

"We are a lot alike aren't we?" she finally decided. Naruto replied with a friendly smile. And then there was a long pause of silence. "You know, I wondered why I never could think of us dating, we're very…" She tried to think of word to describe them, "amazing together," and failed miserably.

"Well it's because you love Sasuke," Naruto said his eye narrowed, and his heart dropped down his ribs. He hated bringing up this boy sometimes.

"You know, I don't know Naruto, its been really weird these past couple of weeks, we're just, I don't know I can't picture a future with him, but I can't picture a future with out him, its complicated," Sakura ended.

Her feelings for Sasuke had greatly diminished. She still loved the boy but she did not have that huge desire to hug him or kiss him. She just had a desire for him to be there for her. It was as though Naruto and Sasuke had switched places in her heart, which, before, seemed quite impossible. There was a long silence between the two where Naruto had looked at the clock and discovered that it was now 5 in the evening and Sakura had 12 hours till her mission. And then, as though Naruto had just had some type of courage pushed upon him, or maybe it was the jealousy in him that spoke.

"Sakura. Are you afraid to date me because I have the Kyuubi inside me?" Naruto whispered; his eyes were no longer plastered on her face; they had faded towards the bed in front of him. At this Sakura sat up straight in the bed and looked down at the boy and screamed.

"NO! Of course not, that is the last thing on my mind with you."

"Are you just not attracted to me then?" Naruto questioned still looking at the clean white sheets.

"No, not that either," Sakura whispered, her fist was clenched at her side. She was actually and surprisingly very sexually attracted to the boy.

"Is it because we're ninjas? Are you afraid that life wouldn't work because Ino's parents make it work and so does…"

"No it's not that," Sakura cut in as she shook her head back and forth. Her eyes were fixed on the bed and her knees had folded under her body, she was kneeling on his bed looking down on where he lay.

"Sakura then what is it?" Naruto said as he gathered his energy to match her height and he too knelt on his bed looking at her face, her eyes still fixated down. "Sakura why is it so hard to commit to me? Tell me, I won't get offended." Sakura just shook her head. "Sakura just say it. It's really not a big deal."

"Naruto I don't know."

"Sakura what are you afraid of? Are you just afraid to commit to me? Are you afraid you'll lose your chances with Sasuke? Are you afraid to admit things have changed? Are you afraid of what people will think? I mean because I can understand that I really can I just want to know," Naruto said, he sounded so defeated while he rambled on, not once did he raise his voice to her. Sakura looked up at her best friend, her loyal teammate and her…

"Naruto, I don't know. I really and truly have not an idea in my mind why, I think there's so many things running around in my head I can't answer that for you," Sakura admitted. "I just know it's none of those things." Sakura sat there, she felt so very guilty, and upset that she could not give him the straight answer he was looking for. Naruto rolled his eyes and smiled at her, it would figure she was thinking about a lot. That's all she ever did.

"Its fine, I can wait, I've waited 10 years it's not like it's a big deal," Naruto said with a huge grin, "just promise me one thing…"

Sakura looked at him with a serious look that killed Naruto on the inside. "Yea?"

"Promise me it's not the blond hair," Sakura punched the boy the head sending him flying off the bed.

"Baka," she said with a huge grin and held out her hand to the boy. He rubbed his head but gladly took the helping hand up. He always knew how to make her smile like that. Sakura helped him back onto the bed and they sat there laughing for a bit.

"I never understood how you could always just go from completely serious to complete hilarity, it's a great skill to have," Sakura said with a smile.

"Hey someone needed to bring it to team 7 and Sasuke sure as hell wasn't going to bring it," he said with a smile. Sakura laughed at him.

"Don't be mean to Sasuke, he's always been very, er, serious," she said with a smile. "Oh, it's going to be weird with out you guys on the mission, no lies, I'm kind of anxious."

"You'll do fine, it's no biggie, I mean you did missions like this when Sasuke and I left for two years."

"I suppose, and this mission isn't a big deal, just most of our healers are out of the country right now and with that new law Tsunade-sempai passed there has to be at least one medic-nin per team. I think she also wants to show me off to her old friend, I don't think her friend found an apprentice that was good enough for her… at least that's what Shizune said. That probably means this woman's going to test me on my abilities, and that means I'm going to have to cater to her every task as to not make sempai upset, this can just not be any good. Ugh rivalries!" Sakura exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air in utter defeat. Naruto just sat there and smiled as she ranted, He was used to her rants about dumb new nurses or people who didn't want to see the doctor with a 'gaping wound' in their chest, or how Tsunade was found in her office, drunk, again.

"Well, just stay safe, really, I mean, it is the old sound hide out, and you know I don't like to think of you getting hurt," Naruto said as he laid back down on the bed and pulled the covers over his shoulders.

"Ha, you guys do know I'm a ninja, right? I'm supposed to get hurt dummy."

"No, you're supposed to heal people."

"I'm supposed to smash people also."

"Ok ok… just don't bleed. Bruises on you hands are fine, so long as they're from smashing people."

"NARUTO!"

"Ah Sakura-chan, you know I'm just kidding, I know you can handle yourself out there, I trust you'll come back every time," Naruto said with a wink.

"Ah, it's 5:30," Sakura said as she caught a glimpse at the clock.

"Do you still need to pack?"

"Nah, I have everything packed I just need to sleep and review the information, especially the team mates. I feel like an idiot, I don't even know their names."

"Ok, well let's just go back to sleep, you can wake up at one and leave if that makes it easier."

"Yea, that sounds lovely," Sakura said as she lay down on the bed and snuggled under the covers Naruto quickly fell asleep but Sakura stayed awake and when she was certain she heard his snores she opened her eyes and looked at the boy's tan face. Her brow stayed in a V in concentration. Naruto's question came to mind immediately. What exactly was holding her back?

* * *

Naruto woke up with a jolt as he looked around his room. Sakura was no longer there, he looked the time and cursed loudly as he ran to his closet, completely wrecking the inside of it trying to find his jacket and pants. He kicked his feet into is shoes and with his jacket half falling off, his pants down to his thighs and his shoes half on and not buckled he sprinted out the door towards Konoha's gate.

* * *

Sakura stood at Konoha's gate waiting for the team leader to arrive. She had gone over the mission for the past 3 hours and was confident she knew what they were supposed to do. The only thing was she had still not met her team for a briefing. She stood there anxiously; she was only there 15 minutes early. She had read the names and she at least knew who they were. It turns out that it was a Genin team, Konohamaru's team to be exact actually. What were the chances? She would be working with Ebisu, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. Sakura stood there looking out the gate. She was lost in thought when she heard footsteps and swiftly turned around to meet the person. 

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed with a smile. "You came."

"Yea, I'm about to just go to training now," Sasuke lied. He liked feeling like he was a part of the them again.

"haha well thanks," Sakura replied with a friendly smile.

"Where's the team?" Sasuke said as he looked around.

"Ah I don't know, it turns out they're all genin," Sakura said with a fake smile. She felt as though this was going to be babysitting more than anything else is.

"hn, it must be an easy mission then, at least it will be a little bit of a break," he replied, he felt pity for Sakura, it was odd to be on a rank d possible c mission. She was the best medic-nin in the country; to Sasuke it felt like a waste of talent.

"Yea, this is true, a little less stress," Sakura told him. "Ah, I wonder where Kakashi is," Sakura thought briefly.

"He'll be late like always," Sasuke said as though he were going to punch her on top of the head for her stupidity this time. "Where's Naruto, he's usually the first here if it's you and Kakashi leaving on a mission."

"I went to visit him yesterday and he was really sick, I gave him some stuff but he shouldn't be getting up any time soon, I'm pretty sure he's out for a while," Sakura replied sadly. It wasn't the same when her whole team wasn't there.

"OI! Sakura!"

"Sensei!" Sakura yelled. "You made it!"

"I am early," Kakashi noted to her. Sakura rolled her eyes, of all the times to be early.

"Oi! Sakura," A voice came from behind her.

"Ah, there you are, are we ready to go?" Sakura questioned as she stared at Ebisu.

"Sorry Sakura-san, we were preparing before the mission, it's a team tradition, we are ready to go now. I trust you have looked over the mission report and understand what we're doing," Ebisu stated looking at Sakura

"Yes, it seems to be a pretty simple mission correct?"

"Correct, " Ebisu answered but was soon cut off by the boy beside him.

"EBISU-SENSEI! How can you say that! YOU TOLD US THIS WAS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT MISSION!" Konohamaru screamed.

"It is for you! It's a rank C mission! It's big enough to be a Chuunin mission! Stop complaining I could just sign us up for pulling roots again!"

"Ah, no… thank you… please," Moegi whimpered, "My hands still hurt from that one."

"Konohamaru, shut up, at least we get to leave the Fire village for a little bit."

"Listen to your team mates and shut up, Sakura you have the package from the Hokage right?"

"Yea," Sakura said as she patted her bag.

"Ah ok! Let's go, everyone ready?" Ebisu asked.

"Hai!" the team screamed, and took their places ready to leap away.

"See you in two days everyone!" Sakura said with a smile and a wave as she took her place next to Moegi.

"See ya soon Sakura!" Kakashi said with a smile.

"Be vigilant," Sasuke reminded her. She just smiled and rolled her eyes.

"One, two, thrrrrrrr,"

"WAIT SAKURA CHAN!" A voice came. Sakura spun around and stared at the blonde launching himself at her. Her eyes widened and she was suddenly entrapped in a hug.

"Naruto, you came?" Sakura whispered. "BAKA! What the hell are you thinking?!" She yelled as she punched the boy clear across the street. "You're still sick you idiot!"

"BOSS!" voices could be heard in the background, they were clearly cowering in fear. Of course they would have the witch woman as their medic-nin.

Sasuke watched and shook his head at his two teammates. They never seemed to change.

"AH! I just needed to say good-bye!" Naruto said as he tried to kneel and rub his head at the same time.

"Ugh," Sakura grunted as she walked across the street and offered her hand to the boy.

"C'mon, I got to go, I'll see you soon, we'll talk about everything when I come back, I think, I think I have an answer but I have to think a little bit more," Sakura said in a low tone so no one else would hear. Naruto's eyes brightened up.

"No worries we'll just talk about it later then! When you come back. And I'll be able to think about everything too." Although Naruto knew he had nothing new to think about except to think about what she was thinking about. This past week he had smile more than he ever had, and now it felt like this smile was glued onto his face for the rest of his life. He couldn't help but just smile now at everything. It was such an odd feeling.

"Good-Bye Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke-kun!"

"Bye Sakura!"

"One, Two, THREE!" Ebisu tried once again and off the four of them leapt.

* * *

D: OK whew! I have been stressing about this ridculous chapter since I wrote the last one. This was the hardest chapter I've written because I did NOT want to write it I just wanted to get to the next two! But I knew if I didn't write it now it would never get done which meaning I couldn't write the 2 or 3 chapters I want to write. This chapter is just a connecting chapter. This isn't a major chapter by any means but there had to be things done in this chapter that I will be using in later chapters. There should only be 3 or 4 chapters left now. The first part of the chapter, the little interaction between Naruto and Sakura, was originally going to be a side chapter at the end that I just slipped in. I decided to keep it in because there was something said that absolutely needed to be said before the upcoming chapters. Ok I'm so sorry this chapter was uninteresting and nothing new. BUT THE NEXT THREE WILL GET YOU HYPED! BELIEVE IT! … But seriously get pumped you're going to love the story by the time I'm done.

PS Thanks for 100 reviews everyone! You Guys are amazing! And thanks for the editting everyone. I love it when people correct me, I'm awful at editting my own writings so it's a big help really.

**Chapter 12: MIA**


	12. MIA

D: So I take my last note back this instant. This was the hardest chapter to write because I am very awkward at writing these types of scenes.

* * *

Chapter 12: MIA 

"When will we arrive there?" a nasally voice questioned.

"It will take us about 12 hours, then once we get there we will stay the night and then head out," Ebisu responded.

"Hey, Sakura-san, did your team ever do a mission as dangerous as this one when you were Genin?" Moegi asked with a simple smile. They had decided to run an hour walk an hour, which made Sakura feel so… odd. She was used to sprinting the whole way.

"Yes Moegi, we were sent on a couple of dangerous missions, this is a much more dangerous mission than I went on when I was your age," Sakura lied. She swiftly remembered Haku, and could have laughed. They really should have been dead now, team 7 of course. Or maybe Gaara… did Kakashi want them killed or something? Sakura settled that it was all in good faith and trust.

"That's so not what Naruto told me! You're lying!" Konohamaru yelled and pointed at the young woman. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Your team is like a legend at school Sakura-san," Moegi admitted, "they say you guys are going to be the next legendary 3. You must have gone on great and amazing missions!"

"We went on a couple I suppose," Sakura said but she didn't really want to get their hopes up. It was a mere fluke that they had been sent on such these missions.

"A couple?! What about you guys fighting off the whole mist village Mafia? Or beating that demon out of Gaara? You must have amazing stories since Naruto's been back! I hear you guys always go one on one with the Akatsuki!" Konohamaru yelled in excitement.

"Well yea, but that's now, I mean it's not like we battled them when we were your age or anything," Sakura said as she waved her hands back and forth. And most of those stories… the only reason why they're stories instead of examples of failure was Naruto. He had saved them in the mist… against Gaara, and in many other missions.

"You guys have faced the Akatsuki?" Udon asked, his voice finally piping up about the topic.

"Kids, Kids! Stop! These are not stories, which you should be hearing. They are very rare occasions and many people stepped out of line to be able to do this." Ebisu told them with a glare.

"Ah Ebisu-Sensei! Don't ruin the fun!" Moegi said with a grin, "Sakura-san tell us about all the stories you know! I want to hear all of them!"

Sakura smiled, she would have been just as excited at their age.

"Sakura-san, did you… did you really meet some of the Akatsuki members?" Udon asked again.

"Yea, I have met a lot of them, and I've seen a lot of them brought down."

"Do you know the one that looks like a shark?" Udon asked.

"Yes his name is Kisame, why?"

"I'm just wondering if you know if he is dead…"

"No, no he's still alive. He was almost defeated by one of Sasuke's… friends but he left before he could make the final blow." Sakura told him. Ebisu stared at Udon for a moment with a very worried look. He knew this would come up some time.

"There's a shark man?!" Konohamaru asked with a big grin. "Naruto has never told me about him! How did you know Udon?!" Ebisu whipped his head over about to yell but was cut off by his students nasally voice.

"It was in the paper while we were in the country of rain." Udon said.

"OH YEA! I forgot you got to go there!" Moegi said as she danced around the group. "But hey! Let's get back on topic now! Sakura-san! TELL US! EVERYTHING!" Sakura laughed at the group and it's contagious energy, it made her feel like she was a kid again.

"Well, I think I'm going to have to start all the way at the beginning and tell you about everyone on our team, firstly there was our team leader, Kakashi-sensei! He was always late, but he trusted us like we were his kids. He always knew our limits, almost better than we did. Oh he was always late!" she repeated, "Always made up some lame excuse," after this sentence there was a roar from the crowd.

"Hey that sounds like another sensei I know of!" Konohamaru yelled as the three younger kids glared at the man. Sakura giggled at the group and continued.

"Well, it turns out he's an amazing teacher, and knows life very well. And then there was Sasuke-kun…" there was a pause in her sentence and she thought for a moment for some words to describe him. "Sasuke-kun is…"

"Attractive!" Moegi squealed, which earned her glares from her other to teammates.

"haha, yea but he's very complicated. He was very quiet when we were Genin. He's very talented, and a hard worker, not to mention smart, but he was very… cocky, I guess would be a word to describe the way he was around Naruto. He always thought he was better. And don't get me wrong, he is a very talented ninja, but he undermined Naruto a lot when we were kids. And then there's Naruto, he was always so rambunctious and ridiculous and hyper and wrong and stupid and idiotic…" Sakura ranted which made the whole team raise their eyebrow and made them feel embarrassed for the boy. "But," she changed her tone, "he managed to surprise everyone, he had a kind heart and was the most underestimated of the team. He turned out to be a great ninja, and more powerful than anyone thought possible. And that was our team!" She said with a smile.

"Wait, you forgot about you!" Moegi pointed out as though a light bulb had just lit up in her head.

'Oh well, I was weak, love obsessed, an awful ninja, and despised by Sasuke, Kakashi was disappointed in me, and I was a bitch to the one kid who had faith in me…' Sakura thought sourly. "I was weak and was just mediocre at everything besides Chakra control, but now I've grown and I've become the strongest Kunoichi in the village!" Sakura yelled with a wink.

"Ah!" Moegi said with starried eyes. She was so impressed with her new pink haired companion. She was so happy to have another girl on the team, it was always a good feeling.

It was weird. Sakura never really had that many older Kunoichi to look up too. There was Kurenai and Anko when she was a kid, and to be honest Anko scared the living day lights out of her.

"So tell us the stories about you guys! And don't leave out any of the details!" Konohamaru said with a toothy grin.

"Ok well our first mission was in the village hidden in the mist… and it began as a simple transport mission…" Sakura began her story. She felt like a legend telling these stories, their eyes wide with excitement, terror, and love.

* * *

Back in Konoha. 

"Two days?" Naruto moaned. "That will be FOREVER!"

"Shut up already, it's less than two days. You'll see her tomorrow night." Sasuke yelled in annoyance. All he had done the whole morning was complain about how he wasn't going to see Sakura for 2 days straight.

"Really Naruto, it's not a big a deal, she's gone on missions before. Do you moan and whine like this when I leave for missions as well? Or is it only for that special person," Kakashi said with a devilish smirk.

"Shut up sensei," Naruto yelled as his face turned bright red.

"Ah, why are you blushing Naruto?" Kakashi sung happily as he drank his morning coffee. Sasuke looked over and couldn't help but roll his eyes, idiot.

"S-Sakura-chan and I are just friends," Naruto stammered.

"We never even brought up your relationship with her…"

"AH! I didn't mean anything by that I was just stating how good of friends we were."

"You're awfully defensive about friendship, wasn't it you, your Genin year, who told Konohamaru that you and her were dating," Kakashi toyed with him further more.

"I'm paying for my ramen now," Sasuke said as he stood up and walked towards the register.

"Yea, I'm done here too!" Naruto yelled as he jumped out of his seat.

Kakashi just smiled and poofed out of the bar.

"Damn it! I'm not paying for him this time!" Naruto proclaimed.

"It's your fault he left!" Sasuke retorted.

"Bastard," Naruto mumbled as he pulled out extra coupons.

"Stop complaining you are using coupons."

"I wanted to spend them on MEEEEEEEEEEEE." Naruto yelled back.

"Later," Sasuke said with a slight wave to one side and walked away with out further eye contact.

"Pft, see ya." Naruto said as he walked away from the stand towards his apartment. He would just change clothes and get ready to train. That must be the only thing he could do. He could bring Sasuke to a bar tonight… ah but it just wasn't as much fun with out Sakura. They both usually hassled him to get up and sing with them. It would only be funny with another person there. When the two men went by themselves it was more like silence and bantering. There were only two options. Don't get Naruto wrong, he loved it like that, it's the way they've always been. But with all the crazy things that had happened with Sakura, Naruto just felt like partying tonight.

"AH! N-Naruto-kun!" a small voice muttered coming towards him. Naruto looked up to find a long purple, haired girl standing in front of him. She had her hair tied up in a pony tale and currently seemed to be jogging around the town.

"Oh hey Hinata!" Naruto greeted. Hinata blushed automatically and came to a stop.

"HI!" She yelled, and blushed even more, she didn't mean to be that loud. "Uh, how are y-you?"

"Ah, I'm kinda tired actually. I got up at 5 to say good bye to Sakura-chan," Naruto said with a grin. Hinata lowered her head in defeat. She knew he loved her but she still had a major soft spot for the blonde. "How about you? Have any crazy plans for tonight?"

"N-no," Hinata stammered, "I mean, ugh, Ino wanted to get all he girls together but Sakura-san had to leave."

"Ah, count on her to ruin things," Naruto said with a laugh. Hinata smiled… there was something that needed to be done though. Hinata's breath became heavy and her heart began to race. She clenched her fists and drew in a deep breath, making it a major priority to keep her eyes open.

"Would you like… like to go to dinner tonight?" Hinata asked, her whole body was shaking like a leaf and her face was pale as a ghost.

"Dinner?"

"P-please, I mean if you can't go it would be fine, I just… want t-to talk to you about something." Hinata ran through her sentence. Naruto blinked… dinner? Why… in the world…

"Well sure… Where would you like to go? I have nothing to do tonight and I was just thinking about it actually."

"H-how about um… the tea shop…" Hinata's head was floating… she could not think about a thing… he was agreeing to this. The moment she had waited her whole life for. "the one near… um…"

"OH! Near the Hokage's office! Yea that would be nice!" Naruto said with a smile, "How about around 7 tonight?" Naruto asked.

"Y-yes! I would… I… that… ok," Hinata settled on one word answers.

"All right see you then Hinata!"

"Bye Naruto-kun!" Hinata said as she SPRINTED away from the area. She had just gotten a boost of adrenaline rush through out her whole body and could feel that her legs would carry her around the city 3 more times before even thinking about getting tired.

Naruto watched her speed away with an eyebrow raised and hands on his hips. "Dinner? Huh, well something new I guess, I wonder if Kiba will be there, or their whole team, or all of rookie 9…" Naruto said as he walked away completely having the wrong idea.

* * *

Back to Team Ebisu 

"AH! Konohamaru!" Sakura screamed as the young boy splashed around in a giant mud puddle close to where they had stopped for a break.

"Sorry Sakura-san," Moegi said politely but seemed more preoccupied at running after the boy.

"YOU TWO! STOP! KONOHAMARU GET FIREWOOD! MOEGI GET THE FOOD OUT!" Ebisu yelled at the two.

"Jerk," Moegi whispered as she stomped past the boy, "My kunai better be back in my backpack or so help me…"

"I won't lose it, jeez you act like I'm a screw up or something, don't forget I was the hokage's grandson!" Konohamaru exclaimed with pride.

"You're still an idiot." She said as she walked away from the boy. Konohamaru went into the woods without further talking. Udon sat on a near by log reading the map. Sakura stood next to Ebisu. 'Were we really THAT young? No, they must be a few years younger than we were…'

"Sorry for the inconvenience Sakura-san,"

"Its no problem, they remind me of old team 7 really," She said with a smile, "it's just funny being on the other side of it."

"I'll be right back, I'm going to scout the area," Ebisu told her.

"Ok sir!" She answered as he flew off into the woods. "So Udon! How much farther do we have, I see you're our guide!"

"Only about an hour after this break actually Sakura-san," Udon said as he traces his finger down the trails they had followed.

"That's good timing, we'll be back in Konoha before we know it," Sakura said with a smile.

"Sakura-san, is being a medic-nin hard?" Udon asked her. Sakura tilted her head and sat next to the boy on the log.

"Well," Sakura started, "it is pretty hard, and you have to have a drive for it, but if you have what it takes its really rewarding actually. I enjoy it a lot."

"Have… have you seen anyone… die?" Udon asked carefully, dancing around his words

Sakura stared at him before answering. She had been trained to try and get ninjas to join the medics at a young age. Recruiting was something Sakura knew but never really paid much attention too.

"Yes, I have, but that's how I get better, I want to be able to save people who are in that position. I never want to see anyone else die, I always think of my friends and family when I'm on the job," Sakura answered honestly, "Why? Are you thinking about it?"

"Yea…" Udon murmured.

"Well if you have the drive," Sakura started

"I have the drive… I want to save people who were in my parents position, and be able to save them instead of just watching."

"Ah, that's a very strong drive, if you ever need help you can almost always find me at the hospital," Sakura said with a grin and she ruffled the boys hair, "I have feeling you'll have a knack for it. So long as you have others as your goal, and the love of them in your mind and heart that is a very big drive for you and it can get you through anything."

"Sakura-san!" Moegi yelled as she interrupted their conversation. "Didn't you say you punched Sasuke once?"

Sakura smiled, "Yes, when I finally got the chance to. I knocked some sense into him," Sakura told her.

"That doesn't seem quite fair! You always beat up Naruto!" Konohamaru yelled from behind a stack of logs.

"Well he's different," Sakura joked.

"How?" Moegi asked.

"He understands," Sakura told them with a grin.

"Understands what?" Konohamaru pushed and that question sent Sakura in her own world once again.

"W-well…" Sakura sounded out as though she were imitating Hinata, "He understands that's how we are."

"I don't understand," Udon said with an eyebrow raised.

"Ah I gotcha Sakura-san you two are…"

"Do not patronize our Medic-nin kids!" Ebisu finally came back from the woods. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. But as she thought about their questions, she realized the answer. She realized why she held back, why she couldn't think of them together, and a wave of relief washed over her she stood up with a smile.

"I'll cook!" Sakura yelled with a grin.

"But… we only have Granola bars… and sandwiches…" Moegi interrupted her. Sakura blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh."

The team ate quickly and was back on the road within 15 minutes. They walked and laughed and entertained each other. The team showed Sakura their formation and Sakura would clap as they completed their team attack on a fake enemy. Ebisu would often say don't do that, that's not how ninja act, act accordingly or try and keep them contained. But Konohamaru had just known him too long to take him seriously.

They began to come close to the small town. Sakura began to fiddle with her bag and stretched a bit. She had to get used to the idea of fighting once again. She eyed Ebisu hoping he would say something to the team to get them ready. And as though it was on cue he stood in front of them.

"All right team. Here's the deal this is where we are mostly likely to see anyone who would be against us, look alive, and get ready to fight."

Moegi got her kunai out and ready, Udon stretched his arms and his back and Konohamaru cracked his knuckles.

"Here we go." The team walked into what seemed to be a disserted small town. Sakura looked around and saw no one, nothing in the windows and nothing in the streets. It was like a ghost town. It only consisted of a couple of houses. The house they were supposed to go too was the one at the very end of the road and it was supposed to be in the middle of the green meadow.

"There it is Ebisu," Sakura told him as she pointed out the house about 100 meters away. Something about this all of a sudden seemed very wrong to Sakura. She clenched her hands and got ready.

"Okay team, stand back as Sakura and I go to the door stay here until we do the sign," Ebisu said.

"HAI!" The team agreed.

Ebisu knocked on the door and waited cautiously. Sakura felt a huge wave of chakra from behind the door. She whipped her head to Ebisu who now had his hand near his kunai pouch. She took a stance and got ready for what would come.

"Hello," a dreary, old, woman's voice came. She opened the door and there stood an old woman. She was in robes of grey and her eyes were a very pale green that look lifeless, she had long white hair, and her face looked as though it could have been pretty at some point in time.

"Hello, Miss Kako?" Ebisu questioned. His voice was strong and official sounding.

"Yes? What do you want?" the woman snapped

"We're the team from Konoha, here to give the medicine you ordered and the medical procedure as well, Tsunade sent her best." He said as he pointed out Sakura who had yet to say a word. Sakura nodded and smiled.

"Tsunade did not come herself." The woman spat.

"She could not come, she is the Hokage and has other business, But I have her apprentice right here, she is the best Konoha has to offer," he answered her accordingly.

"Ah… So this is Sakura…" The old lady responded. Sakura looked at Ebisu, she wondered if he had noticed yet.

"Lady Kako… where is she?" Ebisu yelled as he stepped back, "KAI!"

"Kai!" Sakura said. A creature lunged out of the woman and towards the two immediately, Sakura dodged left, while Ebisu went right. Sakura looked at it and realized her worst fears had come true. It was one of Orochimaru's experiments; Sakura noticed this one in its cursed seal form only because Sasuke was describing the ones they hadn't found. This one had the ability to control and ate off of the life force of other humans, that was how it obtained its massive energy and strength. Its skin was muddy brown and its nose had a disfigured bent, it looked as though it were a gargoyle with large muscles all around, only it lacked wings. Its name was once Tetsu

"Bunshin No Jutsu!" A child yelled. Sakura panicked, she threw her head to the side.

"No! Do NOT come close we'll give you a sign!" Sakura yelled, the beast had gone after Ebisu first, but Konohamaru had gone after it as well.

The beast threw the clones away like they were nothing and found the real child in a second. Tetsu picked him up by the collar and Konohamaru began to squirm in the air.

"Put him down!" Moegi's voice came as she threw a kunai. It was a direct hit in Tetsu's hand and automatically let the young boy down. Tetsu raised his foot ready to smash him when Sakura ran towards the monster and slide tackled him to the ground, Sakura back flipped up and faced it.

"C'mon! You wanted me for a reason!" Sakura yelled trying to keep its attention on her and not the team. It worked the creature charged towards her and swooped towards her stomach. Sakura jumped into the air and used his arm as a type of support. She flipped over his head neatly and drew her chakra swords, stabbing him in the back with both. Her hands shown green and she tried to find her comrades.

"Ebisu we need to get them out of here!" Sakura yelled for her leader.

"Sakura behind you!" Udon yelled as he too came up from his hiding place. Tetsu had turned around in an instant and knocked Sakura over the head onto the ground. Sakura's vision blurred but she remained conscious as the beast took her by the throat and held her body up dangling from the ground. Sakura blinked and tried to recover from the head blow.

"I want you to grant me eternal life, I have heard the Hokage knows the secret, and she must have taught you," Tetsu said in a low gurgling voice. Sakura had no idea what he was talking about, the only thing she could imagine was… "Tell me how to perform Chiyo's jutsu on others so that I may live." Sakura gasped for air.

"YEA RIGHT!" Sakura said as she gathered Chakra in her toes and kicked under his shoulder. The hand automatically released Sakura and she fell to the ground. She rolled back to where Ebisu was.

"What should we do?" Sakura asked. Her heart was racing, this guy was strong, but she knew they could take him down together. The only problem was Konohamaru and the gang.

"We'll attack, I told Moegi to make sure Konohamaru doesn't move, she understands the importance of this." Ebisu claimed.

"I can't understand why he wants to know this jutsu," Sakura told him honestly, "If the cursed seal allows him to do that anyway…"

"Didn't Sasuke say that you lose more of yourself every time you use it though?" Ebisu reminded her, "Maybe he's just addicted to the power, and wants to keep it without losing himself."

Sakura concentrated on the enemy in front of her. "All right so how do you want to handle this?"

"I'll go in first then you can back me up, you're still the medic-nin of this mission."

"Hai," Sakura agreed.

Ebisu ran towards the man and disappeared behind him. The beast was confused for a moment but turned around and swung at Ebisu. Ebisu narrowly evaded the attack but kept on going. The two seemed to do the same thing for a while, attack and evade, so all they were doing was just getting tired.

Sakura punched the ground causing the earth to come up from under Tetsu's feet. "EBISU NOW!" Sakura screamed.

Ebisu jumped up in the air and kicked the monster in the stomach sending it crashing to the ground.

"Oh so you like to play it that way, huh?" the demonic voice whispered as it jumped back. He seemed to be only minorly hurt and Sakura braced herself for an attack. Instead he went for Ebisu; Tetsu punched the ground causing Ebisu's footing to be off. Tetsu took this moment and nailed Ebisu in the cheek. He was sent flying backwards and Sakura sprinted behind the man and caught him sending both to the ground.

"EBISU! ARE YOU OK?!" Sakura yelled. The man had been knocked out. Sakura cursed under her breath and stood up. If she healed him the kids would be in great danger, he seemed to have head trauma and she prayed that he would be fine for now. "So you like to use super strength to, huh?" Sakura said. "Well let's go." The only problem was Sakura almost undoubtedly knew that he had more chakra stored. She was going to have to make this a strategic battle.

She ran towards the man, evading his punches, and getting under each one. She got down on her side and kicked upwards, hitting the man in the chin. Tetsu's head was whip-lashed backwards but he still managed to bring his hand to Sakura's foot. He held her up with the leg she had kicked him with and looked her in the face.

"Oh, a little girl that has some strength?" Sakura noticed she had done some damage to Tetsu but not enough.

"KYA!" Sakura screamed as she punched the man in the face and landed on the ground supported be her arms. She used the momentum to kick him in the side. Tetsu was sent flying backwards.

Sakura stood up, panting a little but she ran to follow her prey. Her body was already bruised and her lip was bleeding from the head blow earlier. She found the man recoiling and getting back to his feet. She brought up her leg and tried to pound him into the ground. Instead he evaded and ran the opposite way. And all of a sudden everything became slow motion to Sakura. She twisted her head to see where he was running. He was running towards Ebisu… where the kids were now. They must have gotten out to check on their sensei.

Sakura could feel her adrenaline, and her body carried her as fast as possible to the group. Moegi was the first to notice and she screamed at to Konohamaru.

"Fuck…" Sakura yelled. She jumped in the air in front of the rushing monster and got in a defensive stand, it smirked at the girl and disappeared behind her. He centered his body and kicked her in the back. Sakura's eyes widened and she fell to her hands and knees. It kicked her in the stomach and sent her tumbling towards the group.

"Sakura-san! Are you ok?" Udon said as he ran to her side.

"Group formation alpha!" Konohamaru yelled and the three formed into their attack formation.

"No!" Sakura yelled as she brought her self up, staggering from side to side. But the three had already gone forward.

The man first went towards Konohamaru "Kawarimi no Jutsu!" He turned into a log. And appeared above him roundhouse kicking the monster in the head, Tetsu caught him and threw him towards the ground. Moegi threw kunai towards the monster while Udon tried to slide tackle the monster. This technique may have worked it the monster weren't about 10 times his size. Tetsu swiftly kicked Udon across the ground close to where Konohamaru was getting up and he caught one of Moegi's kunai, thrusting it at the girl, she was quick enough to realize what was going on but it still pierced her shoulder. He stepped towards the small team.

"Stop it! They're just kids you idiot!" Sakura yelled as she sprinted in front of them blocking his finishing blow with her arms. She was kneeling in front of them. Her arms were in and "x" shape to try and absorb the punch. Tetsu took this moment to grab Sakura's hair and throw her to the ground and began to step on her left leg. Sakura felt the pressure and there was a sickening crack. "AH!" Sakura screamed in agony. "Son of a bitch!" Sakura yelled. She knew this was going to be too hard to try and keep them safe. Sakura took the blood from her mouth and made a straight line down her arm. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu…" A giant slug formed, and Sakura smiled. She twisted her body under Tetsu and kicked the man's knees. As he fell she gave the strongest kick she could muster and kicked him to the other side of the meadow.

* * *

In Konoha in the Hokage's office: 

Tsunade was in her office looking over her papers and documents when all of a sudden she felt her body quiver and she knew what had just happened.

"Shizune…"

"Ah, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune questioned, Tsunade had suddenly looked worried and her hand was quivering.

"Katsuya's been released, Sakura's in trouble."

"Should we send back up? Or wait for her signal?"

Tsunade sat in her seat and folder her hands below her chin. The last thing she wanted to do was lose someone else, but she trusted Sakura, she would have sent for back up if she needed it right?

"We'll wait for a signal."

* * *

"Katsuya! I have a favor to ask, please take these kids and that man back to Konoha! It is of greatest importance!" 

"What about you Sakura-chan?!" The slug screeched.

"He'll follow us and I would be putting them into danger. I'm going to take care of this man and then I'll be back, you may want to tell Sempai that I need back up now hurry! Go!" Katsuya did as she was told; Sakura put the 4 of them on the back of the slug. "LOOK THIS IS A NEW MISSION NOW! GET EBISU BACK THERE AND GET HIM MEDICAL TREATMENT! YOU MUST GO BACK AND TELL TSUNADE THAT I NEED BACK UP! TELL HER EVERYTHING YOU'VE SEEN! DO NOT GET OFF OF THIS SLUG FOR ANY REASON! GOT IT!?"

"H-hai!" the team said nervously.

And like that the slug left. Sakura had been trying to heal her foot as she talked to Katsuya or at least numb it so she couldn't feel it.

"All right, now it's just you and me, ready?" Sakura yelled she rushed forward and disappeared. She appeared behind him. He smirked and turned kicking Sakura's left leg. Sakura cried out in pain and Tetsu reeled his arm back and hit her in the face. Sakura's body was now air born, she felt her limbs were limp and her body wanting to give out. She landed in a tangled mess. Her chakra was low due to her summoning Katsuya and her body was low on energy due to the fight.

"Tired yet girl?" The monster panted. "I will get that jutsu. One way or another, if I throw myself into your body I will get the information I need." Sakura lay in the grass, her hand was gripping for something anything.

'Naruto...' she thought as she gripped the grass, her eyes began to water, she had to get back to him, he has to know... that she knows and that she is...'

Sakura laughed maniacally as she brought her legs under her body. Her pink hair was matted and plastered across her face. Blood was speckled across her cheeks and dripping from her mouth. She staggered from side to side and kept laughing. The man looked at her oddly before she said, "like you're going to survive this battle bastard."

Sakura began to form hand seals and appeared to his left and to his right. Tetsu's eyes widened and punched both of them, one with his right and the other with his left. He smirked for a moment but discovered that neither of them was she. Sakura was now in front of him, his body was completely open for attack due to both of his arms being out stretched. She wielded a bright green sword and plunged it into his chest. Blood sparkled everywhere and Sakura's eyes were glaring down at him. The man fell down to his knees and began to choke up blood.

"You are not going to live forever, in fact, you are going to die now." Sakura said as she took her remaining chakra and wielded it into a sword one last time, she stabbed him in the neck and her business was done. Sakura gave a big sigh of relief and fell to her knees.

"There are more of me," gurgled the voice beside her. Sakura's eyes widened and her body began to shake. She stood up once again, forcing her body to move towards where she had come from. "You will d-die," were his last words.

Sakura looked at him with disdain, "fuck you, I'm going back home, I have to tell Naruto… why." Sakura began to limp back towards the woods knowing that she had to go on, she had to get back to Konoha, and she prayed that someone would find her before anyone else did.

* * *

Back In Konoha. 

"Tsunade-sama! Team Ebisu has returned! But…" Shizune yelled as she barged into the office. Tsunade turned her head, her eyes wide and her face pale.

"Where is Sakura?"

"She is missing, they said she was left to fight someone under the cursed seal, from what was said it was a level two," Shizune told her, Shizune was usually the one to keep everything together but, Sakura had become a good friend and comrade of hers over the years. "She also asked for back up but that was hours ago! They said it took them 4 hours to get here. Ebisu is critically injured and the others have minor injuries."

"I trust they're in the hospital then, get a team together, I will tell team 7, I'm assigning you to find a team who is well trained at finding people. We will make finding Sakura a 4 man mission."

"Do you have any in mind?"

"Naruto no doubt, Hinata can use her Byakugan to find her chakra, possibly Kiba…"

"Kiba's out on a mission," Shizune replied.

"I would say Naruto, Hinata, Kakashi, and Shikamaru, we need someone to keep their head on during this mission," Tsunade said as she listed her last member. "Go to Shikamaru and Hinata, I will find Kakashi and Naruto."

* * *

D: WOW. Long chapter! I'm so sorry if it may seem like I was rushing some parts. But I tried uber hard not too! I'm usually afraid to write fight scenes because I'm afraid I won't do them justice, which I know I didn't do this one justice. It was much more hard core and dramatic in my head. I hope this will do. A lot of things were introduced in this chapter, Hinata and Naruto will be going out on their… dinner… thing next chapter. It is before Tsunade gets the information but I needed to include that in this chapter. But don't worry you shouldn't get confused. I really feel awful about unrequited love. Haha. But you'll see that next chapter. I was up till 5 am this morning and then as soon as I woke up I began typing again. I hope it's not awful! But I like it therefore I'm posting it! Hehe. 

I know Ebisu may seem uncharacteristically weak but everyone makes mistakes, he's more worried about his team than protecting himself.

Hope you enjoyed! Tell me what you thought!

Chapter 13: Finding Sakura


	13. Finding Sakura

D: Hey guys so sorry it took me a while, classes were definitely killing me, I haven't had a break from tests since my last posting, and my honors class had me in its clutches; BUT HEY! Who cares about any of that now! It's summer! So that means I'm going to be posting more, I haven't been able to write like this in forever it feels great! Thanks for all of your reviews! You guys are marvelous!

* * *

Chapter 13 Finding Sakura

"What to wear… what tooooooooo wear… whaaaaaat to wear," Naruto sung to himself after coming out of the shower. His day had gone by fairly slow, even training with Sasuke had gone by at what seemed to be a snail pace. After he had crawled his way up the stairs and rolled into his messy room he had realized that tea with Hinata was coming up sooner than he had thought.

"Ah, this will do," Naruto decided as he threw on a black shirt that had white writing across his pectorals that spelled out 'believe it.' He threw on his khakis and looked around his room, 'neat enough,' he looked over to find a couple of Kleenexes, socks and other clothes on the floor, that's not bad… for him. He jumped on his messy bed and took a deep breath into the left pillow and childishly giggled to himself. 'It smells like Sakura-chan.'

He removed himself from the bed and stepped into his flip-flops and out the door he went, nearly forgetting to lock the door. He zoomed down the streets nearly skipping with joy; this was exactly how he had showed up to sparring today with Sasuke. Sasuke was not nearly as entertained; he was annoyed actually. Naruto seemed to be a zombie floating from place to place. Though, Sasuke later decided a zombie could never be as upbeat as the dumb blond was.

"Almost there…" Naruto said as he saw the Hokage's tower in sight. 'I wonder if we're going to have another date… and if she'd like it… And if she'd give that smile… and if then they'd be considered a couple… and if they would get married… and then who would be his best man… would Sasuke want to… or maybe he should pick Garra… but he considered Sasuke to be is brother… maybe he could go out of line for this one and have two best men… would that be weird? NO! He was Hokage he can do… SMASH! Naruto was sent flying backwards as he collided with someone in front of him. "I should stop daydreaming," he whispered to himself as he sat up. "I'm so sorry, I was just in my own little world, Garra and Sasuke were fighting in my head and there was sand and there was lightening and," he tried to explain while trying to give proper hand motions to what sand and lightening would look like. "Oi Hinata! HEY!" Naruto said as he immediately recognized the person sitting across from him.

"It's ok Naruto-kun," she said with a smile as she managed to her feet, "It was also my fault I should have been more aware."

"Haha nah you can blame it on me, everyone already does it anyway, c'mon I can be your escort," Naruto said with a grin, "So are your teammates not coming?"

"N-no Naruto-kun, d-do you want them to come?" Hinata asked in almost a whisper. Her eyes lowered to the ground in defeat, was he not satisfied with just the two of them? Oh no, this was a terrible idea, she should have never asked. Why? Why did she have to? She's never done it before… so why now? WHY?

"NAH! Kiba will just wanna fight, and Shino, no offence Hinata, but he creeps me out, you're fun just to talk to, we don't do it enough," Naruto said with a smile. Hinata blushed and tried to remind herself what Sakura had said at the festival, he doesn't know how to flirt unless it's blatant and obvious. "You look nice," Naruto commented, she was wearing a white summer dress with blue flowers growing across the cloth.

"T-thank you, I like to get dressed up once in a while," she told him, which was not really true, she's rather be comfortable than in some formfitting dress, "Here we are Naruto-kun," she said as they turned into the petit and sweet teashop, "this table looks good Naruto-kun, r-right?"

"Yea, perfect Hinata, hey can I get some green tea?" Naruto yelled to the waitress who's eye twitched at his rudeness.

"I'll be right with you in a second," she grumbled as she grabbed two cups of water and put them in front of the couple. "So you want green tea loud mouth? Anything else"

"Some vegetable soup," he replied, the waitress glared, "_please?"_

"How about you sweetheart?" She said as she turned to Hinata.

"May I please have black tea and that would be lovely," Hinata asked and smiled as she looked at the woman in the eyes. The waitress smiled back.

"Of course, it'll be ready in a couple of moments," she told them and walked away.

"So how's the year been Hinata; any extremely hard missions? I heard you had that one in the mist village that was, er, interesting," Naruto hurried to hear about her adventures.

"Oh yea, I'm sure you heard from Sakura-chan since Kiba-kun was in the hospital for weeks," she said carefully, "yea, I-it was tough, we weren't sure what was going to happen, a lot of things just happened at once and it just kind of, blew up?"

"Ah, I love missions like that, plenty of action, were you seriously injured?"

"N-no, but Kiba took most of the responsibility of trying to attack the toughest leaders so I wouldn't get hurt, and so that he could brag to Shino later," Hinata explained, she shook her head, her boys were ridiculous, she imagined that's how every girl on a team felt.

"Ah, Kiba, that bastard, of course he would do that, ha, rushing into things, wanting to take out the toughest guy, I mean who does that?" Naruto questioned. Hinata sighed after his remark; it sounded just like him.

"Well Naruto-kun you were the one who challenged Lee… r-remember? I-I mean it was amazing and the courage you showed was amazing b-but you do that too, and that's why you're," Hinata cut herself off. WHY CAN'T SHE JUST SAY IT?!

"Ah, I guess you're right, I do, do that a lot," Naruto chuckled as he thought about his past and challenging everyone who came by. "Other than that did everything go ok on the mission?"

"Y-yes, it was a success," Hinata said trying to get out of her self defeated attitude, this lunch was not over yet!

"Ah that's really good," Naruto said. There began an awkward silence, and Naruto began to twiddle his thumbs, he wished he had his tea to sip on so that he had a reason not to be talking. Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme were the only ones he was ok with being silent in a group, and that usually that didn't even last that long.

Hinata sat across from him just as worried about the silence, she had no idea what to say next, she just really wanted to tell him how she felt, but her courage was little to none. She just wanted to hear his thoughts on her feelings, just to know he knew would be enough really. She had Kiba, and she was happy with him, but a great weight would be lifted off her shoulders once she could tell Naruto how she feels… or felt, she still didn't know. Kurenai had been telling her to start telling people how she felt and that's the only way she's ever get any peace with in herself.

"Ah! How're Neji and you doing?" Naruto nearly yelled as though he had found gold in the wooden table that he had been staring at intently.

"OH! Yes, we're doing a lot better, h-he's actually helping me train," Hinata said with a smile as blush rose to her face.

"That's awesome Hinata! I'm so happy, I told Neji that Hyuuga would change!" Naruto exclaimed with happiness.

"Well the whole clan hasn't but just one person at a time is exactly what we need," Hinata said thoughtfully.

"True, I just wish I could change everyone at once, you know?"

"Oh Naruto-kun," Hinata started… 'JUST GO, C'MON WHAT'S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN!?' "You know it's all because of you? It's all started because of you."

"That's a lot of credit for one guy, you were the one that didn't bow down when you were supposed to fight Neji, that's the kind of strength that needed to be shown to change," he defended.

"Bu-but Naruto-kun… I… you…" Hinata was stuttering horribly she was so nervous she could feel her legs shaking violently under the table. Naruto was now looking at her oddly.

"Here's your tea!" The waitress interjected as she put the tea down to the rightful owner along with their bill. Hinata had jumped as soon as she had said that was taking a very deep breath to regain her breathing pattern, oxygen was essential to thinking, you can't make words with out oxygen, think, think, think.

"Naruto, the only reason why I could do that is because you believed in me," she managed to ramble out quickly.

"Me? That's just because I believe everyone is capable of anything, I believe in anyone," Naruto said with great power in his voice, "I knew you had great will power and that you were strong."

"N-Naruto-kun, it had to be you that believed in me though, because I admire you greatly," Hinata said, after this she took a deep breath in and closed her eyes for a moment, praying that he wouldn't reply meanly, or weirdly or…

"You admire me? That's awesome!" Naruto told her, "I'm really happy you admire me it means a lot coming from a strong person."

And then it hit Hinata; right when admire left his mouth. She admired Naruto, she held him up on a pedestal, and looked up to him. Love was not about looking up; it was about looking forward. Admiration and true love are two very different things. This is why she didn't stutter nearly as much around Kiba, because she did not keep him high up in the sky so that he was so unreachable that it was a dream to be with him. That is why she could love him but not be in love with Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you and Sakura together?" Hinata asked boldly but still smiling. She had finally come to terms with herself.

"Eh, it's iffy after this mission she's going to tell me if…" but Naruto was cut off.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" A man that looked familiar asked.

"That's me…"

"Tsunade needs you in the office pronto, it has to do with Haruno Sakura," he declared, "Hyuuga Hinata you are also," he tried to finish…

"What's happened?" Naruto asked immediately, his cerulean eyes searched the messenger's face for any sign, he could feel his heart beating like crazy.

"I'm not sure I'm just here to get the two of you," the messenger said uneasily.

"What's happened to Sakura?!" Naruto rose his voice and slammed his fist down onto the table. The messenger was silent and shaking with fear. Naruto gave up and ran to the waitress. "I need you phone, NOW."

The waitress' eyes widened and quickly dug into her pocket for her cell phone. Naruto punched in some numbers, "Sasuke, we have a problem, its about Sakura, meet in the Hokage's office," he slammed the phone shut and handed it to the waitress, "Thank you," he mumbled before running out the door, Hinata not far behind.

* * *

Naruto was the first to barge through Tsunade's office door, he found Tsunade with her head buried into her hands concentrated at the wood paneling on the desk. She looked up to see him, and gave a glare to the boy.

"OLD HAG WHERE'S SAKURA-CHAN?" Naruto yelled as he made his way up to her desk, forcefully slamming his hands onto the top of the desk so that she had to look him in the eyes.

"Naruto, you must wait until everyone's here," She said wearily, and stood up behind her desk looking calmly at the boy. Hinata and Sasuke entered the room within a second later.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked as he glanced around the room to try and find his teammate, "What happened?"

"Uchiha, I didn't assign you to this upcoming mission," Tsunade told him sternly.

"I don't care," he retorted harshly.

"You are not allowed on any missions as of yet," Tsunade argued, "Damn it where are the rest of my men?!" and as if it were magic Shikamaru entered through the door and was closely followed by a blond girl.

"Ino! What are you doing here, for the last time I just wanted…" a poof interrupted the fifth Hokage and introduced Kakashi to the already over crowded room.

"Hokage-sama, we must go immediately, have you informed them?" Kakashi questioned, as he looked her in the eyes as well. His worry was evident but his commanding abilities would take over when need be.

"Listen everyone! I'm going to need ONLY Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Kakashi in this room, Ino and Sasuke leave!"

"NO! You need a medic-nin! I'm the only one available right now, what if Sakura is injured?" Ino retorted stubbornly, it was her best friend, like hell she wasn't going to be on this.

"You just got back from a mission!" Tsunade argued.

Ino lost her cool and yelled, "YOU STILL NEED A MEDIC-NIN!"

"UGH! Fine! Ino, you're assigned, Sasuke LEAVE," She told him as she was getting thoroughly annoyed.

"I'm not leaving hag," Sasuke was having none of this. It was his teammate as well, he was going to be there for her.

"This is too many shinobi," Tsunade declared as she began to pace behind her desk, she gave up on arguing with Sasuke for now, she just wanted to send them off immediately and find her. "Shikamaru you're off the mission, Kakashi I'm depending on you to keep a level head, here's the deal everyone, Sakura's team returned 20 minutes ago, Ebisu is in critical condition and unconscious, last Konohamaru saw Sakura was fighting a level two cursed seal. This had to have been more than 5 hours ago, what we are hoping for is that Sakura beat her opponent, but what you need to be prepared for is bringing her body back. You all have to understand that she was healing, fighting and summoned all in one battle, she,"

"She summoned?" Sasuke interjected with an eyebrow raised, his face was tight and his jaw was clenched. His shoulder began to spasm as the cursed seal began to spin on his back.

"Why the hell would she do that? She doesn't have unlimited chakra! And she was fending for herself!" Naruto yelled, his fists were clenched at his sides and his body was shaking violently, tears were also in his eyes and as Ino looked over at the boy she noticed what seemed to be a red spark.

Ino had deliberately followed Shikamaru, they had been hanging out as a team when he got the message, Ino could feel something was wrong, and was not willing to just let it go.

"It was so the rest of her team could get away," Tsunade told them. "The enemy is an ex-follower of Orochimaru as all of you may have gathered, his name is Tetsu, he would be the one you all could have to face," she explained. "Here are the maps to where you are going, Hinata you are assigned to this mission to help find, Naruto you are in to fight, Kakashi is the leader, and Ino, you are now the healer of the group."

"I'm going, this is my teammate," Sasuke said sternly, he felt a tinge of guilt as he said this. He too was an ex-follower of Orochimaru, he knew Tetsu and his ways, and it terrified him to realize that Sakura was fighting him. He was no push over, and was a challenge for him to take down, with Sakura's lack of chakra supply and with her having already summoned the slug, he saw only terrible things for her.

"Sasuke," Tsunade began, but stopped she needed to set them off as soon as possible. "Never mind, I'll do the paper work, betray us again by leaving during the mission and I will hunt you down and kill you myself," she ended with a glare towards the traitor. "Everyone meet at the gate in 20 minutes and then you will leave, remember she could be alive and on her way home, but you could also be fighting this monster and others like him. This is a 48-hour mission, if you can not find her in that time span, I'm afraid she will be declared dead. Now go." The team of five dispersed immediately towards their homes to hurry up and pack.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke were the first to arrive at the gate. Naruto's fists were clenched around book bag straps he had. He was pacing back and forth waiting for the other individuals to come. "Sakura-chan," he whispered, his shoulders were quivering from fear, stress, anxiety, anger, regret and everything else; he had gotten there literally 5 minutes after the meeting.

A roll of thunder was all of a sudden heard in the distance. "DAMN IT!" He yelled loudly, it was going to rain, just what he needed. He had been drinking tea while Sakura could have been dying… his guilt was unbearable. He could feel in his gut that she was at the least injured. It wouldn't make sense for her to take more than 3 hours to get back at her speed.

Sasuke watched him with uneasiness, Sasuke was just as worried, and he had propped himself up against the wall and crossed his arms in discontentment. He wanted to leave now; the sooner the better. He didn't have a good feeling about Sakura and just needed to see her for himself. He soon found Naruto's pacing addictive and also began to pace.

Hinata walked beside Ino silently and Kakashi poofed into place between the pairs. "Ready team? Here's the deal, We're going to go to their destination and figure out what happened and then we'll work from there, ready? Go!" The team sprinted out of the gates, Naruto in lead of the group, his eyes sparkled with a mix of blue and red, and whoever hurt his Sakura-chan was going to die.

* * *

Sakura was limping through the forest, she knew she had lost some major blood and that her leg was definitely broken. Her vision was blurry as she floated from tree to tree, each tree supporting her weight more and more. "Damn it… damn it…" she whispered, she had been traveling for four hours and was no where near Konoha. Her open wounds stung from the dirt and sweat. She sighed and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She would have been home by now if she could only heal herself, but her chakra depletion was killing her.

'There can't be anymore baddies in the woods, right? I mean, c'mon, that guy was enough…" she rationalized to herself. Then a sound was heard in the distance that Sakura did not welcome with open arms, thunder. Rain began to pour over her pink hair and over her lacerations and cuts. "Mother-fucker," she cursed as loud as she possibly could towards the sky and began to cry. "Fuck this," she said as she punched a tree. "I'm going to fucking die alone," she declared as she sobbed and melted to her knees, cradling her broken leg in her arms. "Damn it, not yet," she said as she rolled onto her knees and hands. She began to crawl through the forest path, looking for some sign of hope.

* * *

3 hours later

Naruto stared over the plain meadow.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" He screamed, as hundreds of Narutos appeared out of no where each of them covering the meadow desperately in search of any sign of Sakura. The rain wasn't helping at all; it may be washing away any evidence.

"Byakugan!" Hinata yelled and searched for any chakra source nearby. Mean while Kakashi and Sasuke were scouring the area as well. Ino had possessed a hawk and her body laid beside Hinata as she searched from the sky.

"Guys!" Sasuke yelled, "Over here, I found Tetsu."

Everyone raced to where Sasuke was and surrounded the body of a middle-aged man.

"He must have transformed back to his human form after he died," Sasuke said and looked over the body, notably he looked over his hands. There were pink strands still in between his fingers from where he had grabbed Sakura's hair. Sasuke's body shook as he realized that the hair in his hands was Sakura's. He bent down and grabbed a strand and held it close to his face to make sure it was hers.

"I can't tell who's blood is who's," Ino remarked as she also examined the body, "the rain isn't helping, I'm thinking a lot of this is Sakura's blood. When I was over near the entrance to the woods a trail of blood leading into the woods towards Konoha, I think that may be her."

"That's all we've got?" Naruto asked looking over to Sasuke with concern, Sasuke returned his look with tired eyes. 'She could be walking around with a hole in her chest for all we knew,' Sasuke thought morbidly. He was now shaking.

"Kakashi, me and Naruto are going to go ahead into the woods since we're the fastest ones here, we can scour the forest area quicker, you can investigate this more if you want, we're going to follow the blood path before its washed away." Naruto and Sasuke vanished with out hearing a word from Kakashi.

Kakashi shook his head and looked down at Tetsu. Sakura had to be alive there was no way she could have made it to the forest and then just collapsed. His only fear was that others had gotten to her long before they did.

Kakashi looked out into the distance, their team was back together but it would be all too easy for it to break apart if something horrible were to happen to her. He got the chills at the very thought of losing her, she was the glue to the team, how were they supposed to function without her? He felt nauseated as memories of Obito and Rin made its way into his head. Déjà vu was not welcomed at this time.

* * *

The rain was getting too much for her, and the mud was beginning to get awful. Her cuts were burning and tears were fresh in her eyes due to the pain she felt in her left leg. At this rate she was going to die from hypothermia, and then she saw what could be her minor savior of the day, a tree that had a small hole in the middle of it causing it to also have a small shelter as well. She crawled in and began to wash her cuts out, she felt like passing out but she was afraid that if she did she wouldn't wake up.

"Naruto…" she sobbed, "I wish you were here."

* * *

"SAKURA!" Naruto yelled as he stood on top a tree looking over the forest area. His blond hair was matted and his face was red with heat and anger. He soon jumped off of the tree and ran. He ran through the forest as if he were a wild man, he was truly going mad. He was officially freaked out after seeing all of that blood around Tetsu and the bloody path that led away from it. He knew Sakura's signature move to killing people was bloody, but the blood that led to the forest was most definitely not Tetsu's, he could smell Sakura's blood.

"Sasuke, anything?" Naruto yelled through the radio.

Sasuke was also going crazy; he wasn't stopping for anything that wasn't pink or red. His clothes were soaked, and his body had chills to the core. The main difference between him and Naruto was that his face was pale instead of bright read, it looked as though he had just seen a ghost. It was obvious he was scared out of his mind.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," he reported in a discerned voice as he craned over the woods.

"Damn it," Naruto cursed, they had followed the blood to a tree and then it seemed to just disappear under the mud and rain.

"SAKURA-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"N-Naruto-kun, do you copy?"

"Hinata, go ahead."

"We're I'm in the forest I'm picking up weak chakra signals close to where I am, I'm about 12 miles from the entrance, we can't find her and it's a long shot but,"

"I'll be there." Naruto confirmed as he sprinted through the forest towards Hinata's location. But a minute before he would arrive at Hinata's location he smelled something familiar, it was the same smell in his pillow case this morning, he suddenly fell to the ground with a thud. "Sakura?" Naruto said as he stood in the middle of the forest. It felt like the whole forest was spinning around him and he felt so lost. He closed his eyes and tried to listen for her breathing, for anything.

"Sakura-chan?!" He yelled.

"N-Naruto?" Sakura questioned from her stump, she slowly turned her head to the right and in the distance she saw orange. "NARUTO!" Sakura yelled, she rolled out of the stump ungracefully and tried to walk but automatically collapsed to her knees. She began to heavily pant. "Naruto!" She tried to yell again. The rain was coming down so heavily that her voice was being droned out and she could barely see him, but she knew his voice and orange was undeniable.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked as he turned around from where the voice came from. And began to jog sloppily over to where he heard the voice. "SAKURA!"

Sakura was now crawling towards the figure that was getting closer and closer. Mud now drenched her arms and legs. Her pink hair now had brown and red streaks in it, along with twigs and rocks. She could now see him running towards her but her arms could no longer hold her and she collapsed fully onto the mud.

"Sakura! I FOUND HER GUYS I FOUND HER!" Naruto screamed into the radio as he slid next to her battered body.

"Sakura?! SAKURA-Chan look at me, open your eyes!" Naruto was frantic and panicking. "Sakura, p-please, please, please be ok, open your eyes," he pleaded with her. He dragged her onto his lap and was cradling her mud soaked body. Tears were cascading down his face and his whole entire body was trembling. She wasn't saying anything; she wasn't reacting at all. And then Naruto lost it, he began to sob violently, and his shaking became compulsive. "Sakura, don't leave me, I love you, please, don't, please just open your eyes." For a moment all that could be herd was Naruto sobbing into the rain.

"N-Naruto," a voice whispered she lifted her small gloved hand to his face and cupped his chin as though to make sure it were really him, as though to make sure he was really there. Naruto pulled her out of his warm embrace and looked at her in the eyes. Her hands were around face still trying to believe that this was all real. And then she began to sob violently in his arms, "I-I'm so happy," she began "I'm so happy you're the one that found me, I was so afraid that I was going to die, but now I'm not afraid at all, Naruto," Sakura sobbed through all of her tears, "I love you." Naruto's eyes widened and he lost it a little more. He gathered her into his embrace once again and sobbed into her.

Sasuke arrived and a wave of relief swept over him as he saw Sakura crying, it was the first time he had ever thought of Sakura crying as a relief. He ran over to the two and looked at them, and for once Sasuke smiled.

"Sakura," he said, "You made us worry a lot," Sakura tried to laugh but she seemed pretty set in her ways of just crying out of relief.

"Sasuke-kun, I missed you," Sakura sobbed in Naruto's arms. The rest of the rescue effort got there one after the other. Kakashi sighed in relief and his shoulders released from their tense form.

"Is there anything life threatening right now?"

"She really needs a blood transfusion ASAP, and she also needs to get her stomach looked at, did you take a blow in the stomach?" Ino asked Sakura.

"Yea, the bastard," She mumbled and soon realized she was getting dizzy.

"We need to leave now," Ino told Kakashi.

"Are you going to be the one carrying her back Naruto?"

"Yea sensei," Naruto said, surprised he even asked.

"All right well then we're off," Kakashi yelled as the teammates sprinted off.

Sakura lay on Naruto's back and feeling comfortable, she fell asleep.

* * *

D: OK! One more chapter to go guys and that's just a wrap up chapter. I'm so sorry it took me this long to post, but it's a really long chapter so I'm kind of hoping that makes up for it a tiny bit. Haha I know it won't but it's worth a try. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL OF YOUR REVIEWS! You guys are truly amazing. I do have one request though. Since next time is my last chapter I was wondering if everyone who added this story to their favorites list could review that would make my day. I would LOVE TO HEAR what you all thought of this chapter. Mostly because I'm afraid I lost my writing skills by not writing for so long.

MUCH LOVE TO ALL MY READERS!! Especially the one's that have put up with me during the whole story haha.

Welp! That's all for now. My next update should be some time soon; I'll try to do it before Disney World!

Chapter 14: Hospital Visit and Confessions.


	14. Hospital Visit and Confessions

D: Oh goodness its that time again, saying good bye to another fanfic. haha I love this one so much and I have so much fun writing it and listening to all of your reviews. I'm afraid this is my end chapter. Ok… here we go. I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 14 Hospital visit and Confessions

Steady beeps from the LCD came from across the room as an unconscious woman lay in a bright white bed surrounded by bright white walls. There were bruises of all different colors all over her arms and legs, she had stitches across her stomach and the left leg was in a cast up to her knee. Her face gathered few bruises and only a couple of scratches from crawling through the woods, and her skin was still pale from blood loss, but there was noticeable color coming back to her face. Next to her arm lay a blond man who insisted on staying with her until she woke up. To the left sat a seemingly stoic Sasuke, looking over the two of his teammates.

He brewed over thinking he could be never be scared like that, he never knew fear could grip him once again, and then as soon as he heard something was wrong with Sakura it all just seemed to vanish and he was afraid once again. It had become obvious… hopefully only to him… that he loved his team.

Ino stuck around the first two days until Shikamaru dragged her back to her apartment and demanded she sleep. Hinata had Hyuuga family business to deal with. But Naruto had been up the three days straight with Sakura. Following her from the ER to the OR to the ICU to where she was now. He had seen everything happen and it drained him to such an extent that Naruto had never seen such a depressed looking Naruto in his life. The bags under his eyes were black instead of their normal purple and his hair was knotted from how many times he had sat there and pulled and twisted his hair. Sasuke was there as well during the whole process. They had each made the other go home and shower while the other stayed and watched her. He stared at Naruto sighed, feeling defeated as he too lay his head down on the white bed and fell asleep beside the blond.

* * *

"Ugh," Sakura grumbled as she tried to open her eyes, she was thankful it was night out and that the only lights to be seen were coming from the hall… wait… hall? Where was she? Her eyes darted open and she sat up right in her bed whipping her head from left to right… CRACK! "OH! OW! OWWWWWWW!" Sakura yelped as she threw her arms to her bruised head and neck lying back down onto her pillow. Sadly, while in the middle of throwing her arms back she had also thrown what seemed to be weights off onto the floor.

"OUCH!" A familiar, usually excited voice retorted.

"Ugh," another voice came from the floor.

"Wait those aren't weights… those are…"

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled as he jumped up with his eyes looking as though he were wide-awake, though there was no hiding his actual tiredness. "You're awake," he said quietly, almost to himself.

"Naruto… Sasuke… what…" Sakura began to try and piece everything back together, and then a flood of memories occurred. "NARUTO, SASUKE!" She screamed this time with relief and happiness. She held out her bruised and battered arms and sat straight up to embrace her loved ones. Naruto was the first to advance and comply with the embrace while Sasuke slowly made his way to Sakura's side and awkwardly hugged her. It had been a while since he had given or received a hug, there had been one, and that was forced, and that was when Sakura and Naruto had gotten him back to Konoha.

"You guys I'm so happy you're here," she started and then she felt a great wave of pain run over her spinal cord, "ah," she sputtered as she fell back onto the pillow.

Sasuke sighed as Naruto went straight to her side, "Sakura are you ok?"

"She just woke up so she's going to just now feel everything. They're going to have to give her some more pain medicine. We need to get Tsunade or Shizune in here," Sasuke told them, and as though a light bulb had just turned on he gave a smirk, "I'll just get them, Naruto make sure Sakura's ok while I get them."

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a moment, usually they'd have a small spat before Sasuke just gave into Naruto's stupidity, "You got it," he replied anyway and Sasuke disappeared into the hall.

"Sakura-chan, are you ok?" he asked once again.

"I just wasn't expecting that at all," Sakura told him.

"You're shaking," he informed her as he put a hand on her shoulder, as another stabbing pain came, this time from her stomach.

"AH," Sakura whimpered and grabbed onto Naruto's hand for support. She squirmed around in pain as she gripped Naruto's hand. Naruto kneeled down beside her bed and looked at her. Eventually the pain hit its peak and welded down to a dull pain. "Damn, I guess I should just not move."

"That sounds about right," Naruto replied, this all felt so surreal to him, it felt like he had just been floating through his life for the past three days, though he had to admit the first was the worst. He had lost it no several occasions and had to go out on a quick run to just get the hell out of there.

"Naruto," Sakura tried to even her breath, "that was a joke," this time she turned her head slowly to the boy. "Naruto…" she whispered as she studied the boy. His eyes were red rimmed, and his face was as pale as a ghost, his hair was matted and those clothes looked as though he had thrown them on in the dark. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days."

"How long have you been here with me?"

"Three days, one shower break because jerk face made me."

"Three days?" Sakura murmured. "Naruto, why?"

Naruto looked up at her face, and took a deep and solid breath. Her face was still gorgeous, there were only a few scratches and bruises but nothing could cover up her gorgeous facial features. "Sakura," he dragged.

"Naruto, you're so dumb," Sakura said playfully as she normally would, but this time Naruto cast his down at the floor, concentrating on a certain tile. Sakura looked at him worriedly, "Naruto c'mon I didn't mean that, its really…" Naruto cut her off though.

"Sakura, I have never felt a pain like that in my whole entire life when I thought you were dead. I couldn't breath, I couldn't think, I could just sit there and hold you and cry and sob, I haven't felt that alone in so long." He told her in a serious tone, his eyes didn't dare leave the ground, but Sakura could see his eyes welding up with tears.

"Naruto," she whispered. His last sentence had hit her so hard; she had never felt so alone until she was under that tree in the rain. Sakura slowly pulled out her IV, slid off her bed and sat in Naruto's lap and hugged him tightly, Naruto hugged her back, trying to be delicate, but it was hard when he was trying to make sure this moment was real, that she was really alive.

"I just love you so much, I don't even know where I'd be with out you," he told her. Sakura began to sob and Naruto pulled her in a little tighter, trying to be careful with her stomach. But then she pulled away and tried to sit up right, she was straddling him and looking straight into his gorgeous blue eyes.

"Naruto, while I was fighting Tetsu, once I sent Katsuya off, the only thing that kept me going was the fact that I knew the answer to your question. What is holding me back from being with you? And the answer is absolutely nothing; it's just me not wanting to change with who we are. Naruto, when I was under that tree all I wanted was for you to show up, and be there with me and that's when it fully hit me," Sakura nearly began to sob, "I love you Naruto." Naruto slowly leaned in pushing each others noses together and then Sakura leaned her head to the right, closed her eyes and kissed him, Naruto following in suit, Sakura's was still crying and Naruto had just started to cry as well as they made out in the hospital room.

Sasuke stood outside the door, and shook his head, he had gone extra slow too to make sure they would get enough alone time. What a mess... Kakashi instantly smiled at the scene, this looked awkwardly like one of Jiraiya's scenes from Icha Icha Paradise. But Tsunade didn't seem to mind as a smile crept its way onto her face. She decided not to interrupt them, until Sakura was back in her bed and her adrenaline greatly decreased, making her able to feel pain again.

"AH DAMN IT!"

* * *

"This is lame."

"You're lame,"

"Shut up Naruto, don't make me get up."

"You have an IV in your… oh wait… you've already broken that rule"

"Shut the hell up Sasuke"

"Right…"

"Not our fault you've been sentenced to this small little white room for a week."

"Shut up Naruto, I only have a day left till I'm out of here and then I get to go on missions again."

"You definitely didn't listen to my rules about not getting hurt, remember your hands are the only thing that should be bruised," Naruto egged her on.

"You guys are never going to let me go on a mission by myself ever again… are you?"

"Absolutely not," Sasuke said as he looked at the girl.

"Blah, you're not my mom," Sakura retorted playfully.

"Yea, but we will talk to Tsunade," Sasuke said pointedly.

"Jerks, but that means the same for you two," She said victoriously.

"Hey… hey we're not the ones that almost got ourselves killed." The remark earned Naruto a punch that sent him flying through the room's door out into the hallway. Naruto rolled back in and gave a thumb up.

"She's got her strength back."

"Dumb ass," Sasuke said as he watched the blond go straight back to Sakura's chair… 'Just like a yo yo,' he thought to himself.

"Ah Naruto get over here, let me check it," Sakura commanded as she looked over his head and gave him a peck on the cheek while she was at it. Naruto's face turned bright red, and a grin made its way across his face. He hoped that never got old.

'Well I guess the same goes for her though,' Sasuke added to his past thought, 'but I guess that's how I am with both of them.'

This cycle will continue until one of them will turn around and take a chance, take a risk, and go for a different kind of love.

* * *

D: Ok… Like I stated before this is my last chapter… KIND OF. Haha When I make new chapters for this story it will kind of just be like a Epilogue… only not? Maybe more of a time skip type deal. BUT anyway I don't want to make a whole different story for something that's probably only going to be 2 chapters long and you'd have to have read this to get it in the first place. Anyway… this is the real end, but there will be a epilogue type deal. I'm also thinking about doing a couple of drabbles that have a lot to do with this story, especailly the Kiba/Hina romance, maybe the ino/shika thing, not entirely sure yet.

Please review, I'd love to hear what you all thought of the story as a whole. I hope you all like the team 7 bit, and Sasuke leaving on purpose. I enjoyed the thought haha.

I just really want to give you all a huge 'thanks' for continued reading of this story. I know I am uber frustrating because I just update when I feel like it and to have this many loyal readers is more than I had ever thought I'd have. I hope you all loved reading this story as much as I loved writing it. You all are truly amazing. I wish you even knew how much you all mean to me.

Much Love D


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